What is happening in Turkiye and what can you do to help out?
Turkiye has been getting led by a dictatorship under the rule of the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for over a decade. He is a bigoted, money-hungry, selfish and deeply corrupt man who has been the main reason for my nation's current utterly ruined state since before I was even born. He has made this country unlivable, commited countless crimes and he is determined to suck every last bloody Turkish Lira he can out of it before he eventually flees.
However, in the last couple of years the support he's getting has been wavering as more and more people are hurt by his policies. His biggest political rival - the mayor of İstanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu - was going to run against him in the next election.
(As a person who spent almost 18 years of my life in İstanbul I can personally attest to the fact that İmamoğlu was great at his job and beloved by the people of the city he governed, but that's not the subject)
In response; Erdoğan had him detained over multiple criminal charges with no proof other than "secret witnesses" on the 19th of March, and arrested him on the 23rd. He also arrested many other important figures opposed to him at the same time, and appointed his own trustees in place of many.
The nation obviously erupted over the blatant takeover attempt along with countless injustices from the past that had piled up, and there have been student-led protests nationwide since then. I've personally joined some myself and won't say more for the sake of my own safety.
The cop brutality we received in response has been brutal. People have gotten tear-gassed, harrassed, beat up, arrested and much more for the simple crime of protesting peacefully, which we reserve the right to in our constitution under article 34. There are multiple reports of torture and sexual assault commited by police during custody. Reporters are fined or even jailed very frequently. Actors who speak out and attempt to use their audience for good are fired and even taken into custody as well.
The protests haven't stopped. Many, many groups of people who I would have never thought would agree on something have united into one just to make their voices heard. We've started boycotts to put economical pressure on the government as well. We're fighting.
Share. Amplify our voices. Make what's going on here heard. I am NOT the best source on this as I am just one person going off of my limited memory/knowledge and attempting to tell you all what's going on through a second language. But there are people who are better at this than me, and I can't with a good conscience use my platform for anything else other than to share those sources.
I'm not asking for money. I'm asking for your awareness and support.
No funny posts, no drawings; my people are suffering. They deserve better than this. I deserve better than this. ACAB. Stop trying to criminalize the existence of queer people. Stop femicide. Stop slaughtering our stray populations. Stop letting rapists run free in our streets. Free the 301 students in custody. Release İmamoğlu. Resign.
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