Welcome to Post-Gezi Turkey
Developments in the aftermath of mass anti-government protests in Turkey stoke misgivings over the future of Turkish democracy.
The protests that erupted in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in late May and then spread across the country marked a watershed in Turkish politics. The protests aimed to stop the cutting of trees at Gezi Park, but quickly grew into mass demonstrations against the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and most particularly against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The protest wave had a number of unprecedented aspects:
1. It was perhaps the first time in Turkish history that street demonstrations targeted a single individual — the prime minister — rather than the government or the state as institutions.
2. Never before did such huge crowds take to the streets spontaneously, led by no trade unions, political parties or civic groups. Political parties and nongovernmental organizations eventually joined the demonstrations, but none is known to have “steered” the crowds or acted as a “driving force” at any stage of the events.
