People of Istanbul are on the streets. People of Turkey are on the streets. The date of May 31, 2013 is a historical day. On this day, the peoples of Turkey said: “Enough is enough” to the exploitation and war policies of the AKP regime. The brutal unlawfulness towards one of the last green place in Istanbul city, Gezi Park, by the AKP government was the last straw in this respect. And now, neither the tear gas bombs nor the water cannons by the AKP government can stop the reactions and protests by the people in the streets and squares around the country.
Thousands of residents in many neighborhood of many cities of Turkey have taken to the street to protest the policies of the AKP government by clapping and banging pots and pans during the mass protest demonstrations. All of the protesters demand from the AKP government that it stop the destruction of Gezi Park and open the park to the people as soon as possible.
The peoples of Turkey, organizing permanent protest demonstrations in the streets, have declared that they can not bear the cruelty of the AKP dictatorship's profiteering any more. By these protest demonstrations, the peoples of Turkey have declared that they will not allow the AKP government to implement the policies of profiteering, undermining secularism, or eliminating the scientific methods used in the field of education. Peoples of Turkey on the street during these protest demonstrations say “no pasaran” to the AKP government's nostalgia of the Ottoman period, its collaboration policies in the service of American imperialism, and its war policies against the peoples of Syria.
The peoples of Turkey declare that the AKP government is illegitimate. So, with these demonstrations they have turned over a new leaf in the country's history. The AKP government, not aware of the fact that it has lost legitimacy, has been attacking the people by using harmful chemical gases. We urge the government not to be obstinate with the peoples of Turkey but to respect the honorable struggle of people to make history.
We again urge the government:
- to respect the peoples' will
- to open Gezi Park to the people and withdraw the police force from the street and the park
- to declare as void its plan to destroy Gezi Park.
- to release the people in custody and those detained during the protest demonstrations.
- to apologize to the people for the violence used by the police force
The peoples of Turkey fight for a democratic, secular, independent, sovereign, and peaceful state. Nobody can stand against popular will.
For the Turkish text, click.