FRAMING GEZİ MOVEMENT IN ANKARA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ARDA DENİZ AKSULAR IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AUGUST 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha ALTUNIŞIK Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Prof. Dr. Ayşe SAKTANBER Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Prof. Dr. HELGA RITTERSBERGER-TILIÇ Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Metin ÖZUĞURLU (Ankara Uni, LEIR) Prof. Dr. Helga RITTERSBERGER-TILIÇ (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şennur ÖZDEMIR (Ankara Uni, LEIR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma Umut BEŞPINAR (METU, SOC) Assist. Prof. Dr. Besim Can ZIRH (METU, SOC) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Arda Deniz Aksular Signature : iii ABSTRACT FRAMING GEZİ MOVEMENT IN ANKARA Aksular, Arda Deniz Ph.D., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger Tılıç August 2015, 362 pages The most rapid, unexpected and broad participation example of the social movements in Turkey emerged in İstanbul during 2013 June. The events expanded all over Turkey in a short period of time with the participation of 2.5 million people and imprinted in the memories with togetherness of different clusters of the society, casualties, injuries and a big material loss. The question of “what is Gezi?” will be a contentious issue for the next decades. This thesis examines Gezi movement as a “new social movement” which refers to a discrete set of social actions by their actors, tools, incidences, demands and discourses. Carrying the traces of post-industrial society, the major characteristics of these movements are revealed by their eclectic, multi identitical, rapidly transformative, network-based, non-materialistic targeted structure. One of the most intensive locations of Gezi has been Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Although Ankara has a significant potential emerging from its quality and population, it is also known with its conformist civil servant city profile. Therefore, it is suprising that, Ankara became one of the centers of the violent conflicts and local originalities despite its pacified social movement profile. This thesis tries to answer the question of “can perception of repression create new social movement?” by evaluating Gezi from a framing perspective in the case of Ankara. The major method of in-depth interviews is supported by several interpretative methods such as word frequency analysis in order to scrutinize and understand various aspects of Gezi which is one of the most influential social movements of Turkish history. Keywords: Gezi movement, new social movements, power, framing, Ankara iv ÖZ ANKARA’DA GEZİ HAREKETİNİ ÇERÇEVELEMEK Doktora, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger Tılıç Ağustos 2015, 362 sayfa Türkiye’de toplumsal hareketlerin en hızlı, en beklenmeyen, en geniş katılımlı örneği Haziran 2013’te İstanbul’da ortaya çıktı. Türkiye’nin her tarafına yayılan ve resmi verilere göre 2,5 milyon kişinin katıldığı olaylar, toplumun farklı katmanlarının bir arada hareket etmesi, can kayıpları, geniş ölçekli yaralanmalar ve büyük maddi zararla hafızalarda yer etti. Gezi’nin “ne olduğu” sorunsalı gelecek on yıllar boyunca Türkiye’de cevap aranan sorulardan biri olacak. Bu tez, Gezi’yi; aktörleri, mücadele araçları, ortaya çıkış şekilleri, talepleri ve söylemleri ile önceki dönemlerden farklı bir sosyal hareket dalgasını ifade eden “yeni sosyal hareketler” bağlamında değerlendiriyor. Post endüstriyel toplumun izlerini taşıyan yeni sosyal hareketlerin en önemli özellikleri; eklektik, çok kimlikli, hızlı dönüşebilen, ağlar aracılığıyla yayılan ve materyal olmayan değerleri ön plana alan nitelikte olmaları olarak özetlenebilir. Gezi hareketinin en yoğun yaşandığı yerlerden biri Türkiye’nin başkenti Ankara oldu. Nüfus ve nitelik bakımından büyük bir potansiyeli barındıran ancak genelde toplumsal hareketler konusunda İstanbul’a kıyasla pasif bir profil çizen Ankara, bu defa şiddetli çatışmaların ve farklı semtlerde özgün katılımların merkezi oldu. Bu tez, Gezi’yi Ankara örneğinde değerlendirirken “baskı algısı yeni toplumsal hareket yaratır mı?” sorusuna çerçeve perspektifini de katarak cevap arıyor. Çalışma, Türkiye tarihindeki en etkili sosyal hareketlerden biri olan Gezi’yi derinlemesine analiz etmek için temel yöntem olarak derinlemesine mülakat tekniği benimsenmiş, kelime frekansı analizleri gibi niteliksel yöntemlerle desteklenmiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Gezi hareketi, yeni sosyal hareketler, güç, çerçeveleme, Ankara v DEDICATION To my deceased father, my mother and brother… To Esra, my family in future… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Changes change people’s life. June 2013 changed much. A study topic should come from heart just like changes. Studying social movements has not been easy for me. I just believed in and tried my best. However, this study could not be realized without the people near me. First of all, I thank my thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger Tılıç who always supported me in the changes. She closely followed my studies, corrected several drafts and checked all the thesis without missing a single word. It is obvious that without scientific excitement, such a study could not be created. I must accept that Prof. Dr. Metin Özuğurlu was one of the person who created this excitement in me a decade ago. I always felt the warm understanding of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şennur Özdemir who opened my mind for original perspectives. With her constructive criticism, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut Beşpınar had an important role on the advancement of this study in all steps. Also, Assist. Prof. Dr. Besim Can Zırh has been one of the best person I know with his intellectual background and enthusiasm that is motivating me during my academic life. I must thank all the examining committee for their detailed inputs during the whole process. I owe a lot to my grandmother and my father who passed away years ago and could not see the completion of this study. I would like to show that their efforts were not futile. I thank Esra who is the reason of changes in my life. Her love and encouragement was always with me. In all my decisions she trusted me more than myself and she has not even used a single negative word. Due to her existence, this work became an enjoyable experience. I hope, future bring us new productions together. Fortunately, I had “gifts” of my childhood, my undergraduate, my graduate and my work. Erkan, Aksu, Erkin and two distinct Cerens were my friends of life who provided me full support and motivation during this process. vii My mom, Nilgün is the reason for a warm environment in my house and Meriç, my patient brother always helped me without any complain in summarizing endless data. My uncle Veli and my aunt Gül has been the extended part of my family who has always been with me when I needed. I am also indebted to the interview respondents who have been participated in this study spending long hours with their sincere stories, experiences and open sharing. This thesis and my postgraduate education has been supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) doctoral scholarship programme (2211) which made everything better. Supporting people education will be the main concern of my life in the future as I realized that makes difference. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ............................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ ix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Gezi Park in Terms of New Social Movements ................................................. 1 1.2 Concepts, History and Theoretical Overview ..................................................... 1 1.2.1 Concepts....................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 History ........................................................................................................