Turkey is the only Islamic country with a secular, democratic government. For this reason, it is vitally important that the world pay attention to what is happening there right now. There is a massive protest going on that is being all but ignored by the media. A major reason why this is being ignored is because the current Prime Minister has been effectively intimidating the media for years. He has also been slowing and effectively undermining the democratic freedoms Turkey enjoys.
Yesterday, the Turkish people reached the breaking point for what they would tolerate. What began as a peaceful protests over the governments' plan to put a mall up in the last green park in Taksim, (similar to Times Square in NY), turn violent when the police, under orders of the PM, unleashed teargas, and violent force to try to remove the people. Many people were injured.
The Turkish people responded by hitting the streets en mass. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Istanbul, and the movement spread to other cities across the country. There is a protest in NY city today to show solidarity.
The Prime Minister, rather than listening to his people, has ordered the continued use of force today. The basic democratic right of free speech and the duty of every citizen to hold their government accountable, is at stake. It is essential that the Turkish democracy survive and remain healthy. The stereotypes being peddled about Muslim people is that they "hate our freedoms." The truth is, that the Islamic people, like all people, value freedom. This is why the Turkish people are in the streets. They are fighting to preserve their rights as free peoples.
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