On one side is the "liberated center” of Istanbul, the eminence of Turkey, a city, a true megalopolis, once the capital of two empires. Here is the Gezi Park of Taksim Square, where the most colorful “revolution” of Turkish history has erupted. Thousands of people live in the park night and day, in the midst of a never before witnessed carnival of freedom. An amazing diversity of Turkey’s people, from the religious who call themselves “anti-capitalist Muslims” to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) groups, from anarchists and leftists of all shades to ecologists, from veterinarians treating animals free of charge to human rights workers — all melded into one in an incredible display. In contrast to this peaceful and unprecedented unity are barricades erected at all the roads leading up to Taksim, at the highest point in Istanbul.
On the other side are tens of thousands of people who went after midnight to the international airport 20 km from the city to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his return from a four-day trip to North Africa. Around 0200 hours, Erdogan, along with his wife and some of his ministers, climbed atop a bus and delivered a fiery speech that chilled his opponents and brought wild cheers from his partisans and shouts of “Let us go and crush Taksim," "Turkey is proud of you,” and more than anything else, “Ya Allah, Bismillah, Allahu Akbar.”
Any foreign observer watching this scene could easily conclude that Turkey is headed toward “civil strife” or that there will be bloodshed at Taksim.
Yet the results of a poll published in Turkish newspapers on June 6 should send a different message to Turkey and the world. Two young academics at Istanbul Bilgi University conducted an online poll of 3,000 respondents to determine the profile of those involved in the Gezi Park protests. According to their findings, 40% of the participants in the protests that erupted in the final days of May are between the ages of 16 and 24, and the rest are aged 24 to 30. That is to say, those taking part in the protests that turned the country upside down, severely disturbed Erdogan and rattled his government are very young, and most of them have never known any other leader than Erdogan or a government other than the Justice and Development Party's (AKP).
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