utopic freetown

"GEZI PARK IS NOW A UTOPIC "FREETOWN" | by Çetin Cem Yılmaz, in Hurriyet.

"Inside the Gezi Park, the utopian feeling is multiplied. There are open buffets for people feeding themselves, yoga sessions in the morning and now, a library. Every morning, after the police withdrawal, protesters got the area squeaky clean. People have fun in their own way and nobody intervenes: Kurds dance their halays, Laz people do their horon dance, and a group with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk flags chant their slogans - All this happens within a few meters’ distance.

There are lots of differences, but no conflict. There’s no police, but it’s safe. No hierarchy, but a humane order.
For a country where the democratic tradition is about rights being given from the top to bottom, it is about reversing the order.

It is about sharing, kindness, and reasoning. So romantic, for sure; but it is there.

We know that it won’t be forever. Enjoy it while it lasts."

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