Protest Public Relations by Ana Adi

Author:Ana Adi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351173582
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2018-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

8 Reading Gezi Park protests through the lens of protest PR

Barika Göncü, Erkan Saka, and Anıl Sayan

The Gezi Park Protests in Istanbul, Turkey, joined by over 3 million citizens during the summer of 2013, have already created substantial academic literature with the new media usage of activists and protesters being a central topic (Ogan & Varol, 2016; Chrona & Bee, 2017; Saka, 2017b). However, an understudied aspect relates to the activists’ use of a series of techniques that could be classified as protest PR (Moloney & McKie, 2015, p. 157) meant to apply pressure on the government and the policy makers and to gain broader support from citizens. Our study demonstrates that although the communication strategies during the protests were spontaneous, the protesters were able to design and implement flexible, timely, and result oriented tactics aiming to interrupt the Government’s authoritarian urban policies.

Turkey entered a different political pathway with the conservative Justice and Development Party’s (AKP)1 victory in the 2002 general elections. In the early years of the AKP government, the emphasis was on social reform rather than policies guided by the Islamic roots of the AKP founders. Examples for social reform can be the parliamentary action for EU required political reforms, or the expressed determination to resolve the “Kurdish problem” (Patton, 2007). Following the constitutional referendum of 2010,2 AKP policies shifted toward a conservative line. Conservative policies and messages on several issues such as alcohol consumption and co-ed habitation were interpreted as restrictions on individual freedom, also signaling the Gezi protests (Göle, 2013, p. 10).

During the same period, the construction sector in Turkey became the locomotive industry. Along with several ambitious construction projects, the Government also had plans to demolish Gezi Park, to be replaced with a shopping mall. Gezi Park was located next to Taksim Square, a gathering venue attached to both political and social symbols. Additionally, the Park was the last remaining green area around the Square. The pedestrianization project of Taksim Square, including the demolishment of the Gezi Park, was launched by the Municipal Assembly in 2011. Yet, the council of Preservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage cancelled some parts of the project in 2012, as a result of which several environmentalist groups and professional bodies started following the issue more closely by establishing a new initiative under the name of “Taksim Solidarity,” regularly informing the public about the demolition process.

In the middle of the night of May 27, 2013, construction vehicles entered the Gezi Park to uproot trees. When some activists went to the Park and tried to stop the work in progress, the police forces responded brutally, giving rise to a social media upheaval and a sit-in protest, enhanced by the arrival of more people and some MPs the next morning. On June 1 the police forces retreated from the Park being replaced by an increasing number of individual protesters and NGOs. As the protesters settled in the Park and established a small-scale “protest village” with volunteer-run facilities like a library, infirmary, kitchen, media room, etc.

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