The Protests Continue at Night

When I returned to the scene at Levent in the evening, the event had grown tremendously in size and impact. As I climbed the stairs exiting the metro, I heard the chants. When I emerged above ground, I saw that Levent was an entirely different place.I had to push my way through packed crowds to even get a view of the chaos. People were gushing into the area by the metro-car-load, waving flags and yelling chants like "Kahrolsun İsrail" (Damn you, Israel). Flares were being lit, police were swarming. At one point everyone started yelling excitedly and when I saw the smoke I understood. A flag was being burned, but I could not tell what the flag depicted. Israel? Probably, but it didn't matter. Behind the crowds, a man was helplessly trying to keep the people out of the only remaining lane of the northbound Büyüdere Caddesi traffic. His effectiveness waned and 5 or 10 minutes later the cars and buses full of people were motionless. Their honking was mainly an attempt to encourage rioters to get out of the way, but I'm certain it was interpreted only as a show of support.


Bigger and bigger flags were moving in, followed by larger and larger signs. The ones which I could understand said straightforward and unoffensive things like "it's not alright to attack humanitarian aid ships". I can't speak for the others though.
To sum up, I will just say that the people here are very upset by what happened. I don't mean just at the protest. Killing a dozen or so Turks on a peaceful effort to deliver aid to a struggling people is just such a terrible and unnecessary thing. When you have the guns, you have the responsibility. With that, I hope that the fallout from this is policy change, not more violence. Time will tell.

Protests at Israeli Embassy

I took these about 1 hour ago. At the time the protest was just getting started, but the windows to the Israeli Embassy entrance were already broken and a police barricade established. The most popular chant was "Şerefsiz İrail, şerefsiz İsrail..." which of course means "Israel, you have no honor." As I was leaving, dozens by the minute were getting out of work and pouring in to join the protest. Sound and light equipment was being set up, tv crews were everywhere, and the folks working inside the embassy were being directed by police out of the building. I might return to the scene in an hour or so to take some more photos.

A Social Sunday, a Manic Monday

Spent a sunny Sunday afternoon in Maçka with my new friend, Nayat. We caught a movie, had smoothies and played backgammon (but that sounds weird to me because here it is called "tavla"). It was a tight match and we left it before it was over. As a side note, I learned the game and got fairly good after downloading this free computer version a couple years ago. Afterward, we took a bus to Beşiktaş and then walked to Ortaköy.
Our original plan was not to walk, but with all the traffic (and the free time!) we decided to. Actually, the traffic was so jammed that we arrived ahead of the bus that we would have taken there. In Ortaköy, there is a mantı place that Nayat likes that is inexpensive and really delicious. The air started to cool down in the evening, and the breeze coming off the water was a nice touch. And of course the mantı was fabulous. Definitely in my top 3 favorite Turkish dishes. I am thankful for these kinds of days where everything flows and the time just flies.

In sharp contrast to Sunday... Monday. Took care of a bunch of obligations, sent emails, checked job postings and the time just dragged on. To top it all off, Israeli military forces killed upwards of a dozen Turks who were part of a large international crew on an aid-delivery voyage to the Gaza Strip. Thousands of protesters have gathered at the embassies in İstanbul and Ankara. At the time of this posting I am preparing to go see the protests for myself. More on this later +pictures.

Saturday afternoon

I look forward to this moment all week. When Saturday late afternoon arrives, I go to a favorite cafe, sit outside, order a sandviç and a beer and write to friends, make plans, get organized.