Gezi Park Protests: A case study for Public Participation Process

1

Gezi Park Protests: A case study for
Public Participation Process

Table of Contents
Introduction 2
The Story 3
Public Participation and Gezi Park Protests 5
Discussion: What Has Been Changed After All? 8
Works Cited: 8




Introduction
The main aim of my article is to reply the question of "Public Participation throughout urban spaces". The article relies on the possibility of gathering masses of people without a formal invitation (forming a self-invited crowd, may be from Internet) or an organization and lead them to discuss the problems in order to participate to the democracy other than voting. Whether the result ends up with a consensus or not, the process is a whole participatory issue per se. The idea in the article will be supported by the Gezi Park Protests case which had happened in the Spring of 2013. Throughout the case, also, I will share my observations in "vignettes" stated in text boxes. The vignettes are commonly used in participant observation where the author has witnessed the event of the fieldwork. For anthropologists and some social scientists, the researchers may reveal in their articles what they have seen while taking part in interactions, routines, daily activities or specific events. The participant observation may be stated in boxes, vignettes, or separately in the middle of the page or at the end of an article .
Throughout the excessive development of Internet and social media we form a global and connected space which helps to communicate easier and faster. Networked society, breaks the traditional norms by using new technologies which in the end, enables to form urban spaces where people carry out online relationships. In Gezi Park Protests people have seen the undeniable importance of social media in gathering people to discuss problems and make them participate into the democracy, thanks to the "Local Forums".
"The recent Gezi Park movement that started by the end of May 2013 and took place in Istanbul sparkled the participatory, collaborative policy/ placemaking efforts and made conscious people motivated about shaping their lives, cities. Here, the introduction of the concept of collective placemaking against dictatorial practices of profit- based construction openly challenges existing policies, rules, laws brought by the AKP rule in Turkey", says Murat Germen in his article; Istanbul Gezi Park Resistance Movement as Public Engagement in the Making of Place .
We should absolutely keep in mind that the movement was the result of a self-invited protest held in urban spaces different than most of the traditional publics (such as the ones organized by Third Party Organizations or governments etc. held in cafes, conference centers or other prepared spaces).
The Story
It was the 2013's spring when people have gathered and reacted against the urbanization of Gezi Park, Taksim, Istanbul. The construction sector has been the locomotive of the economy since early 2010s. The sources have been dedicated to this sector and sectorial production has been shifted toward the constructive raw material.
The excessive intention of the sector has transformed Istanbul into a huge building lot and took away the chance of visibility of any "green-field". This was the first reason that lead people to defend the park against a construction plan of a shopping mall in the park. When people saw bulldozers there, first they had been surprised and tried to understand what was happening. Then, they knew they should do something to stand up to. "Birkan Isin (Lawyer and President of the association for the safeguard of Gezi Park), he was the first one to see and shoot what was happening. He posted the first 13 pictures at 11.30 p.m. on May 27, while the bulldozers were demolishing the wall to get the trees. 'I was there, I had to do something. I would have never forgiven myself otherwise! After 30 minutes it was 50 of us, next morning it was an entire country' "he says. "Mustafa Cevdet Arslan ( Archeologist ), the man who climbed the wall to stop the bulldozers at 11.45 p.m. on May 27. 'These are our trees and none of us gave them permission to uproot them' "he yells. According to Claudio Monge (Dominican Father, Doctor of Theology, living in Turkey for more than ten years) there was no religious point for the protesters. Another one, Haluk Aykan (painter) claims that there were no strategy and adds 'I don't have the slightest idea where this movement is going to take us, but I can tell you that even if we don't know whether we will be able to change this country, we are already changing ourselves…' "
Vignette: It was May 28, 2013 when I've seen a Tweet about the park which was inviting people to upstand and make their voices heard. I was not aware that the movement would increase that much and turn into a national protest, sometimes even into an international protest. In a few days as the number of people and violance of police forces (teargas, toma cannons etc.) have increased, people changed the direction of the protest transforming it into a nation-wide democratic participation, yet had been successful to take the attention of the government. Vignette: It was May 28, 2013 when I've seen a Tweet about the park which was inviting people to upstand and make their voices heard. I was not aware that the movement would increase that much and turn into a national protest, sometimes even into an international protest. In a few days as the number of people and violance of police forces (teargas, toma cannons etc.) have increased, people changed the direction of the protest transforming it into a nation-wide democratic participation, yet had been successful to take the attention of the government.
Vignette: It was May 28, 2013 when I've seen a Tweet about the park which was inviting people to upstand and make their voices heard. I was not aware that the movement would increase that much and turn into a national protest, sometimes even into an international protest. In a few days as the number of people and violance of police forces (teargas, toma cannons etc.) have increased, people changed the direction of the protest transforming it into a nation-wide democratic participation, yet had been successful to take the attention of the government.
Vignette: It was May 28, 2013 when I've seen a Tweet about the park which was inviting people to upstand and make their voices heard. I was not aware that the movement would increase that much and turn into a national protest, sometimes even into an international protest. In a few days as the number of people and violance of police forces (teargas, toma cannons etc.) have increased, people changed the direction of the protest transforming it into a nation-wide democratic participation, yet had been successful to take the attention of the government.
Public Participation and Gezi Park Protests
"We cannot sit and watch a few hooligans coming to the square and provoke the people. Because when the nation voted for us, they voted for us to guard our history."
-Said PM Erdogan, 2 June 2013
"They were still all there. The limits of tolerance have been exceeded. I told my Minister of the Interior: within 24 hours, you will clean up the Atatürk Cultural Centre. You will clean up the square. You will clean up the statue. After that, you will clean up Gezi Park. They ask: who gave the order to the police? I did. I did. Yes. Were we supposed to sit and watch the forces of occupation? Were we supposed to wait until the whole world would join in and celebrate?"
-PM Erdogan addressing a rally of AKP supporters in June 24 2013
Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Prime Minister of the time), has believed that democracy may only be practiced in elections. This was a totally false belief and someone should have shown how to participate in democracy without voting. People gathered in the Gezi Park, first, to make some noise and make their voice heard. Against Erdogan's %50 (of vote) the argument the protesters claimed that even a Prime Minister who had the majority on elections can be un-democratic and in case, people should react and ask for democratic rights. Erdogan threatened people by saying "We are barely holding the 50 percent at home." Meaning that the other 50 percent of the population support him and by chance, may not control their temper and go to Gezi Park… Let's say, to show their support and affection to their 'Leader' PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After provoking words of Erdogan, his supporters created an hashtag on Twitter saying "Give us the way and we will crash the Gezi Park" . This has generated a discussion, some logomachy and maybe some little non-damaging fights, but nothing more.
But what made Gezi Park Protests labeled as "Public Participation"? Firstly, we should define Public Participation. According IAP2 (Northern California) "Public participation is the process by which an organization consults with interested or affected individuals, organizations, and government entities before making a decision. Public participation is two-way communication and collaborative problem solving with the goal of achieving better and more acceptable decisions. Public participation prevents or minimizes disputes by creating a process for resolving issues before they become polarized. Other terms sometimes used are "public involvement," "community involvement," or "stakeholder involvement." . Although Gezi Park Protest was not an organized movement but a self-invited one, it is clear that had succeeded to take government's attention. After a number of meetings between Gezi Park Solidarity (can be seen as a group of facilitators ) members (), the court decided that the Gezi Park will remain as a park, suspended of execution terminating the construction activity on May 31, 2013 . On July 22, 2013 the action has declared void again but Gezi Park remained as a park as the result of annulment decision of administration. Currently the case document is under the procedure of state council decision .
However, there are two phases of the movement in the sense of Public Participation. It was a clear example for Participatory Democracy in the first phase considering the meeting between Gezi Park Solidarity and the government . On the other side of the mirror it was a deliberative democracy throughout the "Local Forums". "The characteristics that distinguished this prolific movement from the protests of the 60s and 70s were firstly the employment of sarcasm and humor as a means of protest, an unorganized structure, the unwavering insistence on being a pacifist movement despite provocations, and most importantly the context of deliberation and dialogue it has triggered among different segments of the society" says Ipek Demirsu on her article which may be found in opendemocracy.net . As the number of supporters of movement was increasing, people started to gather in "Local Forums" oriented in more than 85 local parks of Turkey. They were saying "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance.". People have searched for freedom of speech and democracy in the forums. Since there are less people in the local forums, it was much easier to discuss, clearly far from police violence.
Discussion: What Has Been Changed After All?
After the protest of 2013, government realized the power of a 'sleeping giant' . People are not ready to accept whatever had been implemented or told as much as before. The crowd has seen that they may stand straight against government and ask for their rights. A 'Y generation' which has been labeled as apolitical, realized their power over institutions. At the end, the meaning of democracy has been extended which is not only consisted from a ballot box…

Works Cited:

Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers, Kathleen M. DeWalt and Billie R. DeWalt (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. / 2011)
Istanbul Gezi Park Resistance as Public Engagement in the Making of Place, Murat Germen, Sabanci University FASS, Istanbul, Turkey, Published by Elsevier, 2015
Non academic website with an album and quotes; may be found in the link; http://www.cristianobendinelli.com/www.cristianobendinelli.com/Gezi_Park_Story_-_Istanbul.html
Quotes; https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/eur440222013en.pdf
Turkish PM Erdogan's Menacing Speech, Nick Copeland, Friday June 7,2013, Daily Kos Journal
Role Of the Public in Research Work Group, Presented to NIH Director, October 31, 2008, Washington Univesity
Furher info at www.iap2.org
Erdoğan, Gezi Parkı Heyetiyle Görüşüyor, BBC Turkiye (http://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2013/06/130612_erdogan_gorusme_heyeti )
Mahkeme, Gezi Parkı'na Topçu Kışlası Projesi hakkında Yürütmeyi durdurma kararı verdi!, Collective, may be found at; https://devrimciproletarya.net/mahkeme-gezi-parkina-topcu-kislasi-projesi-hakkinda-yurutmeyi-durdurma-karari-verdi/
Gezi Parkı'nda Yürütmeyi Durdurma Kararı Kaldırıldı, Ali Dağlar, 22 Temmuz 2013, Hürriyet (http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gezi-parki-nda-yurutmeyi-durdurma-karari-kaldirildi-24067224 )
Participatory Democracy, Taksim Gezi Park Protests and Erdoganism, A debate on "New Turkey", Hasan Aksakal, Found in www.academia.edu
Times of Hope and Despair: Lessons of Democracy from Gezi Resistance, İpek Demirsu, Open Democracy, 19 June 2013
Every Park Become Gezi Park in Turkey, Çiçek Tahaoglu & Yuce Yoney, 19 June 2013, Bia News Dest, Istanbul
Neighbourhood Forums as Mediums of Direct Democracy in Istanbul, Merve Bedir, Case study, www.failedarchitecture.com
Ghost of Gezi Park, David Lepeska, 2 June 2015, Aljazeera



Jupiter Lara Eral





Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers, Kathleen M. DeWalt and Billie R. DeWalt (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. / 2011)
Istanbul Gezi Park Resistance as Public Engagement in the Making of Place, Murat Germen, Sabanci University FASS, Istanbul, Turkey, Published by Elsevier, 2015 (Page:20)
Non academic website with an albüm and quotes; may be found in the link; http://www.cristianobendinelli.com/www.cristianobendinelli.com/Gezi_Park_Story_-_Istanbul.html

Quotes had been taken from; https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/eur440222013en.pdf
Turkish PM Erdogan's Menacing Speec, Nick Copeland, Friday June 7,2013, Daily Kos Journal
Role Of the Public in Research Work Group, Presented to NIH Director, October 31, 2008, Washington Univesity
-Furher info at www.iap2.org
Erdoğan, Gezi Parkı Heyetiyle Görüşüyor, BBC Turkiye (http://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2013/06/130612_erdogan_gorusme_heyeti )
Mahkeme, Gezi Parkı'na Topçu Kışlası Projesi hakkında Yürütmeyi durdurma kararı verdi!, Collective, may be found at; https://devrimciproletarya.net/mahkeme-gezi-parkina-topcu-kislasi-projesi-hakkinda-yurutmeyi-durdurma-karari-verdi/
Gezi Parkı'nda Yürütmeyi Durdurma Kararı Kaldırıldı, Ali Dağlar, 22 Temmuz 2013, Hürriyet (http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gezi-parki-nda-yurutmeyi-durdurma-karari-kaldirildi-24067224 )
Participatory Democrac, Taksim Gezi Park Protests and Erdoganism, A debate on "New Turkey", Hasan Aksakal, Found in www.academia.edu
Times of Hope and Despair: Lessons of Democracy from Gezi Resistance, İpek Demirsu, Open Democracy, 19 June 2013
Every Park Become Gezi Park in Turkey, Çiçek Tahaoglu & Yuce Yoney, 19 June 2013, Bia News Dest, Istanbul

Ghost of Gezi Park, David Lepeska, 2 June 2015, Aljazeera