I arrived to Istanbul on the 17th in the evening after half a year of not having been here. As the theme of the resent protests starting from Gezi Park and then spreading to all Turkey is very much in the air, and and there are still forums, assamblies of the "capulcu" in different neighburhoods of Istambul (and I suppose in other cities as well) with Eduardo we visited one of the parks close to the salita where people gather every night.
We met Canan there who seems to be spending most of her time in this place, participating in the forums, manifestations or just hanging around with many many friends. The atmosphere in the park was very interesting, something of hope and community. There are tables with information, different groups, smaller and bigger sitting on the ground, discussing, others are playing music and at 9 pm every night there is a stage discussion with guests invited, there are stands with food and drinks etc. Although I did not understand the speeches, slogans or posters, in the level of ideas I do not think people go further than chaging the actual polictical system, wanting more democracy, protecting women's rights etc. What I see as the most important is how people live this moment together, the way they feel about themselves and each other. They are hopeful, enthusiastic, pround of the people and see the future open. Of course this is not the same intensity as it was during the days of the huge protests, but it seems people are seaching a way to give the process some kind of continuity.
The next day we met in the salita with Aylin, Katibe, Jontürk, Huseyin, Claudio and Eduardo. We had a long conversation about the recent events, our Turkish friends were telling about their experiences, some of them participated in the protests very actively. This conversation confirmed that huge energies were moved in the those days, which gave the people the hope for a new world, a new way of living together, a generation that is appearing, in summary a new sensibilty, which still manifests in a confused, not so clear way sometimes, but can be felt. We talked about similar experiences from Spain, Egypt, Brazil etc, about our images of new horizon, how it will come about, and a possibility of a mental or spiritual change... well lots of things. The enegry was rising among us so we felt it was a good moment to do a ceremony of well-being to direct this good vibe towards those who need it. We asked for Gizi (Attila's mother) and Jontürk's sister. It was a very nice evening.
We also talked about the inauguration of the fountain in Mikebuda, which seems to be a good oportunity for our friends here of visiting a park and meet many messengers and Siloists from different countries. I showed the videos of the contruction and it seems Aylin, Katibe, Jontürk and Canan all want to come. This would be amazing!
Manu is soon writing about the following days... yey!
Hugs, Juci
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