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Protests are over

What’s next for Turkey’s unruly youth?

Rumour has it that during the negotiations that went on between a group of protesters and the government in his office, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan cut down his interior minister’s voice with the utmost courtesy: “You, shut up!”

The twenty-something youngsters (the ‘Pokemon generation’ as some of its members call it) who led the three-week-long uprising against Erdoğan’s rule knew that the prime minister had the habit of nominating ministers who unquestioningly bow to his command; however, unlike the docile interior minister, this young generation had no intention of putting up with the whims of a condescending, paternalistic politician. Recent regulations on alcohol and the progressive demonization of alcohol consumers, constant threats to limit abortion, the admonition of a couple for publicly kissing in a subway, and finally, the arbitrary construction of colossal mosques and shopping malls – all in line with the personal taste of the prime minister – incited them to react differently. Instead of shutting up, the youth spoke up.

Although their voice has been heard all over the world, it seems that it will pass unnoticed in their own country. The ‘Great Master’ Erdoğan, as his supporters call him, shows no sign of comprehension or sympathy. During the last two weeks, he was busy rallying thousands of his followers in Chávez-style meetings and openly menacing all citizens who cooperated with the protesters (including high-school principals, doctors, and social media geeks). Some of his most enthusiastic partisans were swift to react. They took to the streets, shoulder-to-shoulder with the police, helping them ‘clear the streets’ and giving unforgettable lessons to ‘ungrateful’ demonstrators by beating them up with kebab-knives and clubs in the back alleys of Istanbul and other cities.

Now that the protests are losing pace, all goes back to ‘normal.’ The government has announced that some of the uprising’s “gullible adolescents” manipulated by mysterious “external provocateurs” have been tracked down, taken into custody, and occasionally arrested. Concurrently, a police officer who killed a protester has been released, while other police violence has been justified, left unpunished, or even praised. Everything seems to indicate that we steadily move towards Erdoğan’s ideal: an authentic and indigenous alla turca ‘democracy of numbers’ where his voters will prosper and the rest will have to bear.

This is why the Western media should keep doing what our local media can’t: cover the stories and activities of the people Erdoğan maligns as ‘terrorists,’ ‘vandals,’ ‘looters,’ ‘thugs,’ and ‘extremists.’ Their future might not be as bright as their minds are.

As you probably understand by now, this is a rather outrageous appeal to the world to keep supporting these Turkish ‘terrorists.’

Indeed, they might have dared to question the decisions and aesthetic taste of ‘His Excellency’ (a dignified expression used by the newly-appointed culture minister). They might have invaded a public park that was destined to be a marvelous, dream-like shopping mall. They might have unlawfully established a public library on it. They might have formed choruses, written songs, and invented whimsical, humorous (and occasionally indecent) slogans. They might have danced and cheered in the streets. They might have drank beer, and rumours say that some of them might even have been engaged in licentious acts such as kissing.

Still, even such debauched, perverted and immoral terrorists deserve to live with respect and dignity.

Arda Eksigil is a Turkish M.A. student studying Ottoman History.