Turks from all walks of life fill the now-iconic Gezi park in Istanbul.
Some sit outside tents sipping beer. Others gather to hear a talk by a leading opposition figure. In one corner people are dancing a traditional Turkish folk piece, in the opposite an impromptu LGBT rally begins. At one stall, food and soft drinks are handed out for free.
Of the thousands now camped here in protest against attempts to destroy the park, their demands, as their thoughts on what step the protest movement should take next, vary.
“We are angry with the media, people are demonstrating against the AKP’s [Justice and Development Party] opinions and behaviour to Turkish people,” said Erkin, a teacher from Istanbul who has been in the park since Sunday.
Some want the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to simply abandon plans to replace the park with a museum and shopping mall. Others are asking for freedom and respect, motivated to pitch camp in the park because of the violence meted out to protesters. More want the prime minister to resign.
Softer tone
Yesterday the Turkish government struck a softer tone when vice-prime minister Bulent Arinc apologised for the heavy-handed approach taken by riot police when demonstrators and the authorities clashed, sometimes violently, around the country.
Since Friday, Turkey has been gripped by the largest anti-government protests in a decade following attempts to do away with this central Istanbul park. The demonstrations have spread to the country’s capital, Ankara, and to several cities on the Mediterranean coast. They reflect anger at the AKP’s growing encroachment into Turkish public life, something that has become increasingly apparent over the past 10 years.
Erdogan, against whom the majority of the protest anger is directed, is visiting a number of north African countries.
John O’Brennan, director of the Centre for the Study of Wider Europe at NUI Maynooth, said it was unlikely that Turkey would see an Arab Spring-type overthrow of government, but believed Erdogan’s political capital has been seriously undermined.
'Damaged'
"I think he's terribly damaged. Someone like him depends on projecting himself as a strongman and once you start losing control of the street, you're in trouble."
But Erdogan still maintains considerable support from the country’s more conservative elements. And in the streets and alleys off Taksim square, the results of four straight days of clashes are visible: shops, ATMs and municipal buses have been gutted and many onlookers are angered by the destruction. The country’s deputy prime minister believes the unrest has cost the country almost €30 million.
Turkish media claimed yesterday that an Iranian agent was arrested in Ankara under suspicion of playing a role in the protests. Experts say Erdogan’s is a classic case of a leader in power too long: he has been re-elected twice largely on the back of the AKP’s successful economic reforms. Earlier this year the government announced plans for the world’s largest airport to be built in Istanbul, adding to a rhetoric of Turkish greatness.
“There’s a sense that Erdogan’s people may try wait this out for a couple of weeks and simply wait for the opposition to splinter, as it has done in the past,” said O’Brennan.
Many protesters occupying Gezi park – ground zero for Turkey’s protest movement – remain defiant.
Samih (22), a translation student, says he has little intention of leaving “until they – the government – leave”.