Ruşen Çakır: Our friends in Gezi did not bow down
While the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the convictions of three prisoners in the Gezi Park case, it upheld the convictions of five defendants, including Osman Kavala and Can Atalay. In his article titled 'What the Gezi experience has shown,' journalist Ruşen Çakır stated, 'We must respectfully record that our friends, whom the Erdoğan administration has tried to make pay the price for Gezi by initiating new lawsuits, have not bowed down.'
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The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the convictions of three prisoners in the Gezi Park case while upholding the convictions of five defendants, including Osman Kavala and Can Atalay.
Journalist Ruşen Çakır, in his article titled 'What the Gezi experience has shown,' stated, "We must respectfully record that our friends, whom the Erdoğan administration has tried to make pay the price for Gezi by initiating new lawsuits, have not bowed down."
HERE IS RUŞEN ÇAKIR'S ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT:
"We know that millions participated in the Gezi movement. In contrast, the weakness of the interest shown in the Gezi case should give us pause. It is possible to speak of a series of facts here. First, there is the reality that Erdoğan, frightened by the social challenge he faced in Gezi, accelerated his authoritarianism, and in this context, the July 15, 2016, coup attempt made his job much easier.
The fact that the institutional opposition could not show resistance against Erdoğan during this process, and that he even drew the MHP, led by Devlet Bahçeli, to his side, left the social opposition in a very difficult position and caused it to disintegrate.
It is extremely understandable and telling that dozens of people I spoke to for my 'Great Migration' series have had their spiritual ties with Turkey severed due to the lack of a concrete outcome from Gezi and the events that followed the coup attempt.
Despite all this, we must respectfully record that years later, our friends, whom the Erdoğan administration has tried to make pay the price for Gezi by initiating new lawsuits, have not bowed down. The political power expected those on trial, especially Osman Kavala, to try to reach an agreement with it, and when it did not happen as hoped, it became even more enraged.
This is why every time the foreign media asks Erdoğan about Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş—another name from whom the government also vainly expects submission—he reveals this anger."