A protest took place on Cornmarket last Sunday in support of the demonstrators in Turkey. About 100 protestors attended the Oxford rally, which was organised by Oxford students.
The Oxford protest was held in solidarity with the thousands of people who took to Istanbul’s Taksim Square in criticism of the Turkish government. There have been similar supportive protests across the globe.
Taksim’s last remaining public park, Gezi Park, was set to be demolished by the Turkish government and replaced by a luxury residence and shopping centre. The protests in Istanbul began with a peaceful demonstration against the demolition but the excessive police suppression of the campaigners has led to a national movement against the government, exacerbated by the lack of coverage of the issue in the Turkish media.
However on Wednesday the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Bulent Arinc, apologised for the “use of excessive force” against the original protests at the demolition of Gezi Park.
One member of Oxford University Turkish Socciety told Cherwell, “We think it is important to protest these incidents since basic human rights and political rights have been violated in Turkey. The lack of objective news coverage in the media is also another reason why we think it is important to raise awareness.”
They added, “The turnout in the Oxford protests was higher than we expected. Our aim was to inform especially non-Turkish people about the situation in Turkey and raise awareness. I think it served the purpose and people were quite keen to talk to us and seek more information.
She continued, “We are trying to inform the university at the moment but there has not been any response from any of the governing bodies or the colleges. Expression of support and dissemination of the news about the real situation in Turkey is all we ask for.”
At the time of going to print, Oxford University was unavailable to comment.
Anil Kirmizitas, another Turkish student who took part in the protest, emphasised the ways in which protests have the potential to influence events around the world.
She explained to Cherwell, “After I posted a picture of the protest in Oxford on the Occupy Gezi-Oxford website I got a response from a protester in Ankara thanking us for the support. I have not even heard the name of this person in my life before.”
She also commented on the situation in Turkey, adding, “I lived in Turkey for 9 months last year and could not believe that it was worse than I thought.
“I was being warned by people not to post anything on Facebook against the Prime Minister or talk about him because it could mean losing my job.”
An OUSU spokesperson told Cherwell, “At present, OUSU Council has no policy relating to the Gezi protests, although students are of course welcome to submit an emergency motion on the subject to OUSU Council.”
