It was not only because of the 20 cents of increase in the public transport fares. After the last protests were violently suppressed by police forces, the manifestations have become something much bigger. Brazilians left their homes to remind that the street is the most legitimate space of democracy.

São Paulo, the biggest city in South America, is known by “the city that never stops” – except in traffic jams. This time the millions of automobiles gave room for thousands of people. Others big cities as Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Salvador, Maceio, Belém and Rio Branco have also joined the protests all over the country.

The protests spread up nationwide, like gunpowder. But real gunpowder was hardly seen. What exploded on the asphalt, this time, was the optimism, creativity, good humor and the feeling that something must change. Democracy, education, health care, an end to corruption, the right to peaceful protest, accessible public transportation… It was all there, composing the claims.

As an organization that has the peaceful protest in its DNA, Greenpeace supports, applauds and is proud to have taken part in one of the most beautiful moments in the recent history of Brazil. We will keep calling for cities thought for its people, with mobility for all. Let the winds of change continue to blow through the country. Each of us, as citizens, need to take ownership of this learning: policy is also made by our own hands.

And what was born because of a feeling of indignation by the increase in public transport fares cannot go unanswered. Governments need to offer a solution to the issue of the high cost of public transport.

After decades and decades encouraging the car industry, it is time to rethink this wasted model and ensure massive investments in public transport. The problem of urban mobility in the major Brazilian cities can no longer be ignored. The main way to solve it is an affordable, accessible and efficient public transportation.

By Bernardo Camara, Greenpeace Brazil

“Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them.”
– Frederick Douglass, American ex-slave civil rights leader.

The citizens of Istanbul now appear in control of Gezi Park, protecting one of the last and most treasured green spaces in Istanbul from conversion to a shopping mall.

The protest, which began to save the park, became a rally for genuine democracy in Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government responded with police violence – beatings, pepper spray, water cannons, and tear gas – but could not stop the protests from spreading to over 70 Turkish cities, exposing Erdogan’s persecution of opposition and media censorship.

When governments turn to violence to bully their own citizens, the system breaks down when people resist with courage. The Gezi Park uprising has become a model of genuine democracy for the world, a line of defiance in the battle to preserve nature and democracy.

When governments over-react
Last fall, the Turkish government closed roads into Istanbul centre, and announced plans to convert Gezi Park to a shopping mall and military artillery barracks. When construction began in May, Taksim Solidarity activists blockaded bulldozers. Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a Peace & Democracy Party deputy, joined the blockade, invoking parliamentary immunity.

Erdogan dismissed protesters as “marginal extremists”. At dawn on 30 May, police raided the park with tear gas and water cannons. They drove about 1,000 citizens from the park, and then burned their tents and possessions.
Calls went out on social media, and 10,000 people arrived at Gezi Park. Police attacked again, injuring hundreds of citizens and three reporters from Reuters, the Hürriyet Daily News, and Birgün newspaper. Citizens opened their homes to injured protesters. By evening, 100,000 people had re-occupied the park. That night, the public occupied the historic Bosphorus Bridge that links Europe to Asia.

The uprising spread beyond Istanbul to Ankara, Izmir, and over 70 Turkish cities. Izmir police detained 29 people for sending Twitter messages. The Turkish Doctors’ Union reported 4,177 people injured during protests and two deaths.

On Tuesday, 4 June, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç apologised for police violence and met with opposition leader Önder, who called the uprising “historic” and announced that “the democratic process would start”. The following day, Arınç met with the original protest group platform, Taksim Solidarity, which delivered the public’s demands: Cancel the Gezi park demolition, release arrested citizens, ban tear gas, and allow free public assembly and free expression.

Solidarity
Sirin Bayram, a woman who has worked for Greenpeace, wrote to me from Istanbul about inspiring acts of public support: “A bus driver saw police and a water cannon behind him in the street, heading for Gezi Park. He stopped his bus and blocked them. We were proud of him, because, of course, he lost his job. At the courthouse in Istanbul, lawyers made a protest by clapping their hands. The government arrested over 75 lawyers, for clapping!”
Bayram described working at the park to collect support for the protesters. “A little boy came to the park with some rice his mother had cooked for his lunch. He said ‘My big sisters and brothers in the park need this more than me.’ He put the rice on the table and he left. This put tears on our faces and kept us strong.”

The Greenpeace office in Istanbul stands on Istiklal Street, leading to Gezi Park. Police officers confronted demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons directly below the office, which remained open night and day, providing shelter to injured protestors. Doctors and medics arrived to offer medical assistance.

On Saturday, 8 June, protesters witnessed an unprecedented expression of solidarity as Turkey’s rival football fans – from Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas, and other sports clubs barred from watching matches together because of stadium violence – walked through Istanbul arm-in-arm, wearing each others’ team colours.

Censorship in Turkey
The citizens of Istanbul have now occupied Gezi Park and Taksim Square, staged music and political speakers, and insisted on a new era of genuine democracy in Turkey. Twenty-two year old protester Yesim Polat told Al Jazeera, “Prime Minister Erdogan thinks that he is a sultan. He thinks he can do whatever he wants.”

Turkey once represented a modern, secular state that offered religious freedom. Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) advocate a return to an Islamic state. Once elected in 2003, Erdogan began arresting opposition voices, Kurdish leaders, and journalists, and harassing private couples for kissing in public.

Mustafa Akyol, a columnist with the Hürriyet newspaper, told Al Jazeera that journalists are being arrested under a abuse of Turkey’s anti-terrorism law. “The great majority of the journalists in jail are people who wrote positive things about the PKK.”

In January 2013, Erdogan’s police arrested 11 journalists attending an opposition political party meeting, and sentenced five of them to jail, increasing the number of jailed journalists in Turkey to 75. Prior to Gezi Park, freedom of the media had virtually vanished in Turkey.

Parks and People
From Amsterdam’s Vondelpark and California’s People’s Park in the 1960s, to Prague’s Wenceslas Square and Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, to Cairo’s Tahrir Square in 2011, protecting public parks has provided the backdrop for democracy around the world.

In 1970, a group of citizens in Vancouver, Canada – the “Don’t Make a Wave Committee,” which later became Greenpeace – rallied to save a park entrance in Vancouver. At that time, the Four Seasons Hotel chain announced a plan to construct six towers at the entrance to Vancouver’s magnificent, 400 hectare Stanley Park, a waterfront meadow that opened onto a lagoon, where swans nested in the bulrushes and families gathered for picnics.

Two of the Don’t Make a Wave group, Greenpeace co-founders Rod Marining and Bob Hunter, met to make a plan. Hunter, a newspaper columnist, had described his “mindbomb” theory, which became a key Greenpeace strategy. “The holistic revolution won’t be like storming the Bastille,” Hunter would say, “but a storming of the mind.” Hunter believed that campaigns to change in the world should create images that could change people’s way of thinking. Today, we call this a “meme” but in 1970, this was a “mindbomb,” an image that would travel on the global media and shift public perception.

In May 1971, during a light spring snow, Marining and his allies occupied the park entrance, pitched tents on the land, and put up signs calling the encampment “All Season’s Park”.The camp included indigenous activists, Québéquois separatists, hippies, and several early Greenpeace founders. Ben Metcalfe, the first Greenpeace media officer, organised a group of citizens to bring food and wine to the occupiers. Nurseries in Vancouver donated plants. Protesters laid sod over construction roads and planted trees. Images of “All Seasons Park”, with families in tents in the snow, became one of the earliest Greenpeace mindbombs.

The story appeared on Vancouver television and in newspapers. Occupiers demanded a public referendum, and Vancouver citizens voted 56% in favour of keeping the park entrance, but the by-law required 60% for approval. The stand-off continued until the wealthy father of a protestor offered to purchase the property for $4m. The entrance to Stanley Park was saved, and remains a part of Vancouver and Greenpeace heritage to this day.

Gezi Park and the World
Today, Gezi Park has become a mindbomb for the world. The protest over a park became a referendum for democracy. “We are here for our freedom,” Nihan Dinc, a 26-year-old publicist, told Al Jazeera. “We are here for a space to breathe.”

Journalist Pepi Escobar explains in an Asia Times story why Gezi Park is significant beyond Turkey. Escobar describes the Syria revolution as a “proxy war” between NATO and a new Russia/China alliance. Turkey sits at a strategic point between Europe and Asia, where NATO and western oil companies want a pipeline from the United Arab Emirates, through Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, into Europe. Escobar explains that NATO and the US want Turkey to support their military efforts in Syria to win the pipeline war. However, “Turkey has been plunged into the … Gezi/Down-with-the-Dictator maelstrom,” Escobar writes, “and the last thing an embattled Erdogan will be thinking about is to further empower a bunch of ‘rebel’ losers.”

But Gezi Park is important for another reason: The people of Istanbul have shown the world that citizens can stand up to military and police violence with peaceful solidarity.

Account from #OccupyGezi movement in Istanbul, Turkey from Campaign Director at Greenpeace Turkey. Originally posted to Huffington Post

Before Gezi

In the build-up to the unrest life in our office had never been so busy. The past few weeks had brought so many new laws and amendments chipping away at the already weak environmental regulations – we had no idea how to keep up.

Nuclear power regulations are being eased to make construction easier. The government is entering international agreements committing it to new coal plants – bypassing domestic regulations. Rules removing the protected status of environmental areas are being prepared. The cabinet are now deciding whether a forest is “beneficial” or not – all of this and more within just the past few weeks.

The government’s preference for easy profit over protection of the natural environment – the right to breathe and the right for a healthy life is nothing new. But the pace of destructive change is so fast that we find ourselves helpless.

The News Media That Never Was

It is naive to claim “the media only recently began to censor”.

When a peaceful protest by residents near the site of a new coal plant in the Black Sea town of Gerze was met by tear gas and mass arrests the media didn’t cover their trials. When those people set up camp to keep the bulldozers and builders off their land, the main news channels barely noticed.

But we had never come across such massive censorship as within the last few months. All we have left was handful of newspapers and handful columnists who would listen to what we have to say.

Gezi and Beyond

As Greenpeace, we were not running a direct campaign to save Gezi Park. We were supporting the solidarity in Taksim, but our main focus were incidents Anatolia and Ankara- which were going largely ignored by the press. Obviously, we had to be there when the destruction began or when the first tear gas dropped.

What strength had the government left us with other than to stand shoulder to shoulder?

People who say that the Gezi resistance is more than defending a couple of trees are absolutely right. But, do not think this is something new. If it were, it would not rage across Turkey so rapidly.

Listen carefully to the outburst against building hotels over forests and the resistance against hydroelectric and coal or gas power plants in recent years. Take note the number of signatures for our campaigns to protect the purity of our food and drinks.

Throughout Anatolia, people are fighting in what little space they have left against the government’s now instinctive and almost gluttonous desire for growth, a strategy that has never been open for discussion.

In fact there is a ‘Gezi Park’ in every city. That’s why this movement – which started in İstanbul, spread so easily around the republic.

Regardless of their political stance, Gezi became the symbol of the peasant who lays down in front of bulldozers; of the city coalition that comes together to protect its river and air; of the ordinary people who are suddenly taken into custody just because they have every intention to protect their garden, and of the village headman who shields himself to protect his people.

The police violence that you see has been going on all around Anatolia, but we were not witnessing it. That is the reason why people all around Turkey came together that quickly and stood shoulder to shoulder; everyone understood each other clearly, went out to the streets, and joined the solidarity.

Consequently, no one should believe those who would link this movement with radicalism, with disturbing the peace, or nationalism. No one should look for dominant powers behind it, call us idiots, or collaborator of agents.

This is an effort to overcome the feeling of desperation, of being discarded. First and foremost, this is a collective fight for the right to life and for the freedom of expression. It is the story, solidified now in history, of thousands of peaceful people who, even now, the media is trying to bury by focusing on provocateurs.

How do the trees feel?

The construction digger entered the park illegally and the police shielded it against the people who were trying to protect the trees; after a day where people could no longer sit idly by pushing the voice of their conscience down, a Greenpeace associate was taken into custody.

Some of us were with our friend who had been detained, some of us looked for a friend who had been hospitalized, the rest of us participated the forum ,and the organizations held in the park.
We were all exhausted, but the evening was beyond praise. It became a festival with more than ten thousand people who came out in support. People sang songs, community literary reading were held, the messages for support from other countries set people’s mind at rest.

The atmosphere gave us hope We all felt the hope coming out of this atmosphere, the hope we had not felt for a long time. My friend Ezgi looked over the trees for a moment, “All of us gathered round for the trees. I wonder what do they feel? Is our presence here making them happy?”

Sometimes you need to be this naïve. Otherwise, you cannot hear or understand what your people truly desire while you stare at the opinion polls.

07 June 2013Indonesian President Visits Rainbow Warrior © Ardiles Rante / Greenpeace

Just a few hours ago, we met the President again, but this time on our iconic ship, the Rainbow Warrior, which is winding up a one-month tour through Indonesia raising awareness about the need to protect Indonesia’s forests and oceans. The President visited the ship with the First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, his daughter-in-law, granddaughter and nearly half his cabinet including Ministers of Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet Secretary, head of Indonesian Navy, Armed Forces and Police. It is a remarkable recognition of our work in Indonesia and of course a validation of our work to protect the country’s rich environment.

Perhaps the highlight was the President, the First Lady and their granddaughter standing with me behind the rails of the ship where a banner proclaimed in Bahasa: “Our Oceans, Our Forests, Our Future!” And when the Presidential family joined the ship’s crew to perform an impromptu version of a Bahasa Indonesia song in front of the media – that was quite unexpected and heartwarming!

But with this unprecedented level of recognition from a head of state, of a strategically important country that is part of the G20 group of nations, comes a need to maintain our unswerving independence and ability to speak truth to power. While this event and the upcoming events over the weekend give a strengthened voice, we know that the momentum and challenges ahead need us to continue to be critical, confront, provide solutions and acknowledge progress.

Referring to his intent to continue to partner with us, the President requested Greenpeace to continue to criticize when needed, and hoped we would provide solutions to problems and recognize and communicate when we also see progress and change. As the fourth most populous nation on earth and a powerful emerging economy, these are promising words. And they are a strong rebuff to a declining number of voices in the country that want to restrict how and where civil society organisations like Greenpeace can operate.

“I ask Greenpeace to remain the partner of Indonesia with its task to remind and criticize Indonesia of things that the country has to improve. And again I would like to extend my gratitude to Greenpeace for what it has done to the world in general and to Indonesia in particular,” he said.

This sort of political will is more than welcome and we are honoured by the President’s visit. He should be congratulated on the progress his government has made on forest protection since our first meeting last year. Having extended the moratorium on deforestation, he has provided the space needed to push for stronger reforms that could make a lasting contribution to Indonesia’s forest protection.

But sadly, Indonesia remains one of the most fragile and threatened environments.

For the past month, the Rainbow Warrior has travelled some of the world’s waters richest in biodiversity, and past islands with forests that teem with life and rare, endangered species.

With approximately 10% of the world’s rainforests located in Indonesia, the country abounds with natural wealth. But there are economic interests that want to turn the country’s oceans and forests into commodities for global consumption. Fifty years ago, 82% of Indonesia was covered with forests but in the past decade, this has dropped to 48% due to relentless deforestation for pulp and paper, palm oil plantations and mining. Indonesia’s seas are also among the most diverse coastal and marine habitats, but the country’s coral reefs are also considered to be among the world’s most threatened biodiversity hotspots, at risk from overfishing, pollution and climate change.

Today was a good day for Greenpeace, our civil society allies and our supporters in Indonesia and around the world, and hopefully one that will spur future leaders to further develop President SBY’s environmental legacy.

We know from the past that the world needs more than just nice words.

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.

Turkey’s planning regulations have been bulldozed to exempt the nuclear industry from the burden of producing environmental impact assessments. This makes it easier for the government to ignore the two thirds of the Turkish people opposed to nuclear power and push ahead instead with the construction of the planned Sinop and Akkuyu nuclear power stations.

While just 5% of Turkey has ‘protected area’ status, offering some freedom from the bulldozer, even this, is not sacred.

New legislation being promoted by the government – the Nature and Biodiversity Protection Law, which was to be voted on by the parliament this week – would allow it to remove ‘protected status’ at will; without excuse, rationale or public debate.

That vote has been postponed in the wake of the Gezi protests. While the legislation languishes in limbo, there is still time for it to be fixed. It is a perfect time for the government to take heed of the demands of those who want to protect Gezi Park and the whole country.

If not, the parliament should reject it in its current form and demand a redraft. The parliament has the chance to show it is listening to the will of the people and has its interests at heart.

It is also the perfect time for the government to sign the Aarhus Convention which grants people access to information, the right to participation in the decision-making processes and the right to litigation on environmental issues. The European Union is among its 46 signatories and all countries seeking EU membership are expected to sign.

Prime Minister Erdogan and his government can show the people of Turkey that they have been heard and that their rights are being respected. He can tell them that Turkish democracy is a daily activity and not something to be reserved for the ballot box once every five years. He can recognise that civil society is the beating heart of a healthy democracy. He can sign the Aarhus Convention and fix the Nature and Biodiversity Protection Law before returning it to parliament for a vote.

As many commentators have said, the situation in Turkey is no longer about ‘just a handful of trees in a park’. But make no mistake, the importance people attach to this precious green space is important. It is about whether or not Turkey will continue its economic development and embrace the understanding that it is nature that nourishes us and provides us with the basic human needs such as fresh air to breathe and clean food to eat. Nature also feeds our souls and access to it is a human right.

The extension of the movement that gained focus in Gezi shows that the protection being demanded for Gezi Park is demanded across the entire country: ‘I am in Turkey!’

Laetitia Liebert is Executive Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean