COMMENTARY THE POLITICAL REVERBERATIONS OF THE GEZI PROTESTS The Political Reverberations of the Gezi Protests HATEM ETE* ABSTRACT Although a lot has been said about the Gezi protests, anal- yses of the events consistently failed on two particular issues. First, in their efforts to analyze the dynamics behind the protests, ana- lysts failed to distinguish the immediate triggers of the demonstra- tions from the more rooted causes of discontent. Second, the di- verse and transforming makeup of the protesters was overlooked. The underlying assumption was that Gezi protesters were a ho- mogenous group even as the crowds increased during the course of the demonstrations. This article offers an alternative perspective in analyzing the makeup and the motivation of the protesters. n June 2013, a wave of protests that lized out of environmental concerns, have come to be known as the Gezi were soon joined by diverse groups Iprotests swept through Turkey. The whose contradictory motivations Turkish political scene, unacquainted could not be reconciled. New waves with this type of protest, had difficul- of protestors ranged from those who ty interpreting the events of Gezi pro- sought to become political actors to tests. What had begun as a low-key those who were angered by having protest against the urban planning lost their status as political actors; project which included cutting down from those who demanded a more the trees at Taksim’s Gezi Park – and participatory democracy to those fueled by the use of excessive police who felt threatened by Turkey’s de- force and the administration’s misdi- mocratization; from those who want- agnosis of the events – turned into a ed to make their voices heard to those wide-spread movement in a short pe- who wanted to oust a democratically * Assistant professor at riod of time. During the three weeks elected government. Yıldırım Beyazıt the protests continued, the composi- University tion of the protesters, as well as their The meaning attributed to the Gezi Insight Turkey motivation and justification, evolved. protests continued to evolve even Vol. 15 / No. 3 / Protestors, who were initially mobi- after the demonstrations themselves 2013, pp. 15-25 2013 Summer 15 COMMENTARY HATEM ETE Prime Minister’s strong and terse lan- The purpose of the opposition guage and the excessive use of police force, without a doubt, functioned in functioning democracies as trigger mechanisms. However, is to listen to the demands these two factors only explain how and complaints of the people, the existing tensions exploded in the form of protests, but fail to explain translate these voices into what caused such tensions in the a political vocabulary, and first place. Therefore, when analyzing the dynamics behind the protests, it then make sure they are would be beneficial to distinguish the represented in the political triggers from the causes of the deep sphere seated-anger and societal tensions. Masses take to the streets when they feel repressed, and when they believe ended. As more time passed, both the they do not have adequate political meaning attributed to the events and representation. In other words, they their political reverberations mutat- take to streets when they feel discrim- ed. Gradually, the real identity of the inated against and helpless that their protestors and their original motiva- needs are not being addressed politi- tions came to mean less, while their cally. The perception of repression is political reflections came to mean related to the policies and discourse more. As such, it would be beneficial of the administration and the feeling to set aside the knee-jerk reactions of hopelessness is related to the per- and reflex interventions that caused formance of the political opposition. the events to intensify and discuss the real consequences of these pro- While the AK Party’s policies and tests and what they will mean for the discourse during its decade-long future of Turkey. rule consolidated its base of support in certain segments of the society, it led to discontent in others. The AK Dynamics Behind the Protests Party’s efforts to respond to the de- mands of its constituency – such as Such a discussion should begin with democracy, freedom, recognition of an evaluation of the dynamics that led identity, active foreign policy, and a the protestors to take to the streets. more conservative lifestyle – was met There is no question about what hap- with disappointment, discontent, and pened. The excessive use of police anger by the opposition constituency. force during a low-key environmen- tal protest, and the administration’s It is inevitable that in functioning de- misdiagnosis and mishandling of the mocracies, incumbent parties fail to events caused the protest to explode meet the demands of some segments into a wide-spread movement. The of society. In such cases, the com- 16 Insight Turkey THE POLITICAL REVERBERATIONS OF THE GEZI PROTESTS Protesters hold molotov cocktails plaints and demands that fall outside ical bodies and the people depend to in Taksim square the scope of the executive branch find a great extent on the strength and the in Istanbul during their way into the political sphere performance of the political opposi- clashes between through different channels. Some of tion. The purpose of the opposition riot police and demonstators. these channels include institutions in functioning democracies is to lis- that serve as a check-and-balance ten to the demands and complaints of AFP / Aris Messinis mechanism to the executive office, the people, translate these voices into civil society organizations that lobby a political vocabulary, and then make around these demands, and opposi- sure they are represented in the polit- tion parties. These channels can pre- ical sphere. When the political oppo- vent the dissenting voices from being sition functions as it should, the need drowned out. It seems that the weak- for the masses to take to the streets ening of the checks-and-balances disappears. When the opposition during the AK Party’s efforts to pre- does not perform and the peoples’ vent the undue influence of tutelary voices are not transformed into viable institutions, and the perceived hope- political demands, the perception of lessness of the main opposition party inadequate representation turns into becoming strong enough to counter- hopelessness, and protests ensue. balance these aggressive moves were the reasons that precipitated such This is not the first time masses have deep-seated tensions. felt underrepresented and repressed in Turkey. The repression faced by To wit, the vigor and the effectiveness both the Kurds and the pious con- of the relationship between the polit- servative populations during the 2013 Summer 17 COMMENTARY HATEM ETE 1990s could not even be compared as a reaction to the failure of the to the repression the protestors to- opposition party to respond to its day feel they face. However, neither constituency. group considered demonstrations as a viable political option. This was mostly because neither Kurds nor The Diverse Makeup of the the pious conservatives doubted that Protestors the opposition leaders they support- ed could bring their political strug- What made the Gezi protests so pow- gle for rights to a successful end. As erful in its first few days was the dif- such, they preferred to continue their ficulty of identifying the protestors struggle within the boundaries of the by a particular socio-economic class democratic political sphere. or political ideology. This was some- thing the political scene in Turkey It should, then, be noted that dissent had not yet witnessed and as such and opposition to ruling parties are represented the Achilles’ heel of the part of functioning democracies. The AK Party. As the protests progressed fact that there is strong opposition to and the crowds got bigger, a group which clearly possessed strong po- litical rhetoric and experience, and was more resistant to police force and What made the Gezi protests whose disapproval of the AK Party so powerful in its first few was more intense, became more vis- days was the difficulty of ible. As the protests transcended Gezi Park and spread across the coun- identifying the protestors by try, they began to lose their novelty. a particular socio-economic The protests and protestors began to lose the power they drew from their class or political ideology diverse make up that transcended political and ideological boundaries and became easily locatable within a ruling party that runs on a strong the country’s political landscape. In language of identity politics should short, both the mission of the pro- not be surprising. What is unusual is tests and the identity of the protestors that the dissenting populations feel changed within the first few days of the need to take to the streets to make the protests. As such, the protests not their voices heard. In other words, only lost their initial force and unpre- any analysis of the underlying causes dictability, but also turned into yet of the protests should account for the another point of contestation along role of a dysfunctional political oppo- the familiar political divisions of the sition as much as the role of a strong country. With the energy of these ruling party. The protests should not protests, the conventional fissures of be perceived solely as manifestations Turkish political life once again be- of dissent against AK Party, but also came clearly visible. 18 Insight Turkey THE POLITICAL REVERBERATIONS OF THE GEZI PROTESTS The prevalent analyses of the Gezi last ten years. Essentially, they fail to protests assume that the protestors consider the ethnic, sectarian, ideo- are not affiliated with any political logical, and political polarization that party or ideology and that they sim- shaped the political landscape for the ply demand participatory democracy last decade.