海角大神

When asked if he ever expected a small protest against the destruction of an Istanbul park to morph into some of the biggest anti-government demonstrations to hit Turkey in a decade, Imre Azem laughs and shakes his head.

鈥淲e were hoping that maybe 50 people would join us,鈥� says the 37-year-old filmmaker, who was among聽the original 10 activists who pitched their tents聽in the city鈥檚 central Gezi Park on the night of May 27.

Nor does he think it鈥檚 a simple case of chance that this is what sparked the monumental outcry.

"It's at the heart of these protests," says Mr. Azem. "In general the AKP聽[Turkey's governing聽Justice and Development Party]聽has operated over the past 10 years not by negotiating and convincing people but by imposing its will.聽It鈥檚 not just urban issues, it is also the alcohol ban, interference in lifestyle...聽In Gezi Park two weeks ago we said 'stop.'"

For many of the thousands of Istanbullites who are now flocking to the park in protest, the project to redevelop it along with the adjacent Taksim Square epitomize a government culture聽that routinely disregards the聽rights and wishes of citizens.

鈥淥ur prime minister goes to sleep, dreams, and then wakes up in the morning and tells us we will do this project here and that project there,鈥� says Cihan Uzuncarsili Baysal, a political scientist and member of Urban Movements Istanbul, one of the groups opposing the project.聽

No public space, no public discontent?

Istanbul's mayor said this weekend that the plan for a replica of Ottoman-era artillery barracks to house shops, hotels, and apartments will now no longer include a shopping mall, but instead a military museum. The concession has failed to appease demonstrators and聽Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has insisted the overall Gezi Park plan will still go ahead.

鈥淥ur Taksim project is a plan that unites history and nature. And this project will produce a very beautiful environment in Istanbul,鈥� he insisted on June 6.

For Sirri Sureyye Onder, a member of parliament for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party and a key figure in the campaign to save Gezi Park, the project is an attempt to neuter a place that has long been a focus for protests. Takswim is the traditional rallying place for annual Labor Day demonstrations on May 1, and on May Day 1977, the square was the scene of a massacre when an unidentified gunman opened fire on leftist demonstrators.

鈥淪ince the AKP came into power in Turkey, they have always tried to get people away from the squares.鈥�

It is also part of a wider government policy of repurposing public or communal spaces to maximize private gain, he believes.

鈥淭heir main aim is to provide a 鈥榤ore expensive鈥� Taksim Square where the government and [corporations] can make a greater profit,鈥� he says.

The contract for the Gezi Park project has yet to be awarded, but it is likely to go to one of a coterie of favored development companies known to have close but informal ties with the government that win the vast majority of tenders.

These include Calik Holding, currently demolishing and gentrifying the nearby neighborhood of Tarlabasi, a vibrant but ramshackle community home to vulnerable minority groups. Similar overhauls are happening throughout Turkey. Calik鈥檚 CEO is Erdogan's son-in-law.

Legal challenges

Meanwhile the events leading up to the Gezi Park protests show government and developers鈥� disregard for statutory process designed to safeguard against inappropriate development. 聽Istanbul's Chambers of Urban Planner, Architects, and Engineers, challenged the project on the grounds that it contravened laws relating to the preservation of cultural and natural heritage.

And a bidding process for the contract to build the underground road tunnels for the Taksim project was held, even as legal challenges against it continued, says Akif Burak Atlar, secretary general of Istanbul鈥檚 independent Chamber of Urban Planners.聽

鈥淲hen the prime minister declared he had a plan for Taksim Square during the 2011 elections we made a legal objection and went to the courts. The legal process was still going on, so making a tender for the project was wrong,鈥� he says.

Similar problems surround the plans to recreate the Topcu barracks. In January, a cultural preservation board,聽independent of the government and created to regulate improper development,聽canceled the project on the grounds that it did not "serve the public interest."聽

However Erdogan聽quickly聽vowed: 鈥淲e will reject the rejection.鈥�

On聽May 1, a higher and supposedly independent cultural聽protection聽board, overturned the cancellation, a ruling Azem and others claim was illegitimate and influenced by the government. A court has聽since聽announced a temporary halt,聽but聽Erdogan has repeatedly vowed it will go ahead.

The project is among a raft of others pushed through by the government. They include the construction, recently begun, of a third Bosphorus bridge, a project that will involve cutting down several million trees north of the city. The government says that the bridge would ease the city's debilitating traffic, but its construction is also expected to trigger a wave of development in the forest to the north of the city that critics say would cancel out any relief.聽

They also include the destruction of a historic cinema on Istiklal street, near Taksim, to make way for a shopping mall, and the demolition of several traditional neighborhoods in the center of the city聽so that they could be redeveloped for聽luxury homes,聽their聽former inhabitants shunted to the city鈥檚 fringes.

鈥淭hese are the memory spaces of the city, and they are destroying them. I am very much afraid that in five years time I will go around Istanbul not recognizing my own city,鈥� says Baysal.

What kind of democracy do they want?聽

For Azem, resisting the Gezi Park project is a step towards Turkey developing a more sophisticated definition of democracy.

鈥淚f we take a vote and 99 percent vote to demolish my house, in a majoritarian-based democracy they can do it. But in a rights-based democracy they can鈥檛 do it,鈥� he says.聽

The government mentioned these development projects regularly during its successful campaign for reelection, but there is no polling data to indicate how broad the support and opposition for such projects are. However, a lack of green space in the center of the city has become an increasingly contentious issue.聽Only 1.5 percent of Istanbul is devoted to green space, compared to 14 percent of New York City, and 38 percent of London.

鈥淲e have a right to this park as the people of Istanbul, and by fighting for it, we are building a truer democracy,鈥� says Azem.