It's Not Just Taksim Anymore

When I woke up this morning, I saw that the reports were true.  The police had totally cleared Taksim Square.  The park was empty.  The surrounding streets were dirty and wet.  I went to get as close to the square as I could, but the police had the entries from the 2 main streets -- Istiklal Cadessi and Straselviler Cadessi -- blocked off.

The scene this morning where Istiklal Cadessi meets Taksim Square

The scene this morning where Straselviler Cadessi meets Taksim Square

So, I decided to make it a day of traditional sight-seeing.  I am still saving the top attractions for when Bryan gets here tomorrow.  But there's so much to see in Istanbul that it's not a problem.  I therefore spent a good (albeit hot, grimy, and sweaty) 7 hours in the Fatih part of the old city.  This is a much more conservative Muslim part of town, and I hiked my way to two very old Christian churches and a big mosque.  They were good (and so was the food), but I'll write about them later.  The day got more interesting for me when I returned home to the Beyoglu region.

I haven't read the news since I got back to the apartment.  But what happened is pretty clear.  Clearing the park has apparently backfired.  While the protesters -- and the resulting police violence -- were previously localized and confined, that is no longer true.  The protesters have decided not to take the heavy-handed police tactics lying down.  

I first understood this after I'd crossed the Galata Bridge that connects the old city to Beyoglu.  As I began walking through the beginnings of Beyoglu, while I was still munching on the fish sandwich I bought on the bridge's lower level, my eyes started to sting a little.  I thought, "hmmmmm, there was barely any onion on that sandwich."  And then I saw tons of people on these streets -- most of them young, and most of them wearing goggles and masks.  The streets, moreover, were super wet and kinda dirty.  My eyes started to sting more, and my throat began to burn a little.  (Just a little.)  

When I'd left 7 hours earlier to walk over the bridge in the other direction (away from Beyoglu and towards the old city), these streets had been quiet.  They had apparently, in my absence, become the site of the battles.  The protesters were now cramming the main arteries of this progressive and cosmopolitan district, and the police were shooting tear gas and water cannons at them.  This is like having the battle not just localized in a small park in downtown NYC, but instead having it on the streets of SoHo!  It will also put a much bigger dent in commerce.  The shops and cafes and food joints that I'd seen bustling for 4 days and nights were now closed.  

Anyway, I got back to the apartment as fast as I could, but not before I'd seen a police truck rush a few hundred protesters, and shoot torrents of either water or tear gas at them.  For the first time while here, I did wish I'd had goggles and a mask.  The mood in Cihangir seems pretty good though.  Every few minutes, the street I'm on erupts in cheers, honks, whistles, etc., with people again hanging out their windows banging pots, snapping photos, yelling, and blowing whistles.   I'm meeting Bryan tomorrow afternoon at our hotel in the Sultanahmet district -- which is where most tourists stay.  I'm going to miss this area.   

*     *     *     *

Update @ 11:00pm:  At around 10:00, I went out to see what was going on.  I was a little hungry, and I felt like a drink.  This area is usually hopping until way way later than that.  I also wanted to see what was happening with the protesters.  I walked for a little while, but had not yet made it to Istiklal Cadessi.  

This night was clearly different.  All the cafes and bars were closed.  There were still some people on the streets, most of them protesters.  But it was much more subdued.  

Someone stopped me and told me, in pretty good English, that it was not safe to be out.  I asked him "how come.....were the police going to come spraying water and tear gas again?"  He said that wasn't the problem; that the police were not a major concern.  He said there were reports that conservative government supporters would be going around with sticks and bricks, looking to attack people.  He said I should go home.  I took his word for it.  

On the short walk home, I saw this group that looked a little menacing.  I don't know who they were.  The protesters themselves are not violent, so I don't think this is them.  But I don't know what these government supporters look like either.  The guys crouching down concerned me the most.  I don't know if you can tell, but they are trying to pry bricks from out of the sidewalks.  That's not ominous, right?  

Right after that, I saw some others trying to shake street signs out of the streets.  Another not-so-good sign.  I think I'm going to continue reading Inferno now.