Gezi Park protests

Gezi Park protests
Demonstrators in Taksim Square, 15 June 2013
Date	27 May 2013 (2013-05-27) – 20 August 2013 (2013-08-20)
Location	90 locations in Turkey including Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Hatay, Balıkesir, Bursa, Adana, Mersin, Kayseri, Konya, Eskişehir, Antalya, Isparta, Denizli, Muğla, Trabzon, Edirne, Erzurum, Malatya, Samsun Dozens of cities within the Turkish Diaspora
Causes	Authoritarianism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Lack of public consultation Violation of democratic rights Media censorship and disinformation Use of excessive force by police Government policies connected to the Syrian Civil War Alcohol restrictions Center-periphery dissonance
Goals	Protecting Gezi Park and the public places Defending freedom of speech and right to assembly Banning the usage of chemical gas by state forces against protesters Resignation of Erdoğan's government Free media Fair elections
Methods	sit-ins, strike actions, demonstrations, online activism, protest marches, civil disobedience, civil resistance, cacerolazo
Result	Occupation of the park and adjoining Taxim square ended by force, smaller scale protests gradually die out, the park remains open to the public and plans for its destruction are cancelled Turkey-EU relations deteriorated Government passed several bills to increase the government’s ability to control the Internet, to expand the police's abilities and to criminalise the provision of emergency medical care during protests. Court acquits Gezi Park protest leaders
Parties to the civil conflict
Anti-government protesters Taksim Solidarity Movement () Environmentalists Socialists Communists Anarchists Social Democrats Liberals Kemalists Feminists LGBT Kurds Anti-capitalist Muslims Nationalists Libertarians UltrAslan Çarşı Vamos Bien Youth Union of Turkey 3H Movement Confederation of Public Workers' Unions Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey Education and Science Workers' Union Istanbul Bar Association Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects Turkish Medical Association Turkish Journalists' Association Turkish Writers' Union 61st Government of Turkey Prime Minister Ministry of the Interior Police Gendarmerie Others Justice and Development Party Youth Wing Great Union Party Youth Wing Anatolian Youth Association Pro-government football supporter clubs Pro-government media
Lead figures
Non-centralised leadership Government leaders: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Prime Minister) Muammer Güler (Minister of Interior) Hüseyin Avni Mutlu (Governor of Istanbul Province) Kadir Topbaş (Mayor of Istanbul) Hüseyin Çapkın (Police Chief of Istanbul Province) Mehmet Artar (Gendarmerie Chief Colonel)
Number
7,548,500 actively in person during June in Istanbul alone (unofficial estimate) at least 3,545,000 actively in person (government estimate) Cities 100,000+ (Istanbul) 93,950 (Adana) 40,000+ (Ankara) 30,000+ (Izmir) 30,000+ (Bursa) 30,000+ (Çorlu) 20,000+ (Eskisehir) 20,000+ (Antalya) 20,000+ (Gaziantep) 20,000+ (Denizli) 15,000+ (Bodrum) 15,000+ (Çorum) Unknown
Casualties
Death(s)	22
Injuries	at least 8,163 (during the Gezi Park protests) (at least 63 in serious or critical condition with at least 3 having a risk of death)
Arrested	at least 4,900 with 81 people being held in custody (during the Gezi Park protests)
Detained	at least 134 (during the Gezi Park protests)

Anti-government protesters

61st Government of Turkey

Others

7,548,500 actively in person during June in Istanbul alone (unofficial estimate)

at least 3,545,000 actively in person (government estimate)

at least 8,163 (during the Gezi Park protests)

A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting the plan. Subsequently, supporting protests and strikes took place across Turkey, protesting a wide range of concerns at the core of which were issues of freedom of the press, of expression, assembly, and the government's encroachment on Turkey's secularism. With no centralised leadership beyond the small assembly that organized the original environmental protest, the protests have been compared to the Occupy movement and the May 1968 events. Social media played a key part in the protests, not least because much of the Turkish media downplayed the protests, particularly in the early stages. Three and a half million people (out of Turkey's population of 80 million) are estimated to have taken an active part in almost 5,000 demonstrations across Turkey connected with the original Gezi Park protest. Eleven people were killed and more than 8,000 were injured, many critically.

The sit-in at Taksim Gezi Park was restored after police withdrew from Taksim Square on 1 June, and developed into an Occupy-like camp, with thousands of protesters in tents, organising a library, medical center, food distribution, and their own media. After the Gezi Park camp was cleared by riot police on 15 June, protesters began to meet in other parks all around Turkey and organised public forums to discuss ways forward for the protests. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed the protesters as "a few looters" on 2 June. Police suppressed the protests with tear gas and water cannons. In addition to the 11 deaths and over 8,000 injuries, more than 3,000 arrests were made. Excessive use of force by police and the overall absence of government dialogue with the protesters was criticized by some foreign countries and international organisations.