With the eyes of the world on a small park in Istanbul, a new banner message of global solidarity in defense of our fragile planet has been born: ‘I am in Gezi!’. Gezi Park is a tipping point, an awakening to years of environmental abuse in Turkey and the erosion of democratic participation that has put private profit before the environment and public wishes.

For many people in Turkey, what is happening in Gezi has been happening all over the country. Protests against ill-considered and unwanted developments have been met with police brutality, tear gas and mass arrests, but the country’s media have barely reported them.

Despite Turkey’s abundant sources of renewable energy (solar, wind and geothermal), Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing ahead with unhealthy or dangerous plans such as massive coal fired power station expansion and plans to build two nuclear power stations.

His government is entering into international agreements committing it to new coal plants, bypassing domestic regulations.

For the past two years, in the Black Sea town of Gerze, local opposition to a coal plan has been met with the standard police response of tear gas and mass arrests. Continue reading →