Special article from Can Atalay on the 12th anniversary of the Gezi Park protests: It is the collective memory of those walking toward the future

Atalay penned an article on the 12th anniversary of the Gezi Park protests. Stating that Gezi was one of the most widely participated social movements in Turkish history, Atalay said, "Gezi is not the past; it is the collective memory of those walking toward the future."

The article published on Can Atalay's social media account for the Gezi Park protests is as follows:

"Those who embraced the trees became the voice of a people they wanted to silence"

"Gezi is one of the most effective democratic popular movements of these lands, shedding light on today.

The Gezi Resistance, which began 12 years ago with a handful of people protecting a park, soon became the collective conscience of millions. The objection that rose in Taksim in those days was a symbol of defending not just a park, but our shared future and our desire for freedom and equality. Those who embraced the trees and those who resisted in tents became the voice of a people they wanted to silence. That resistance showed the power of conscience and solidarity against total oppression.

Gezi became one of the most widely participated social gatherings in Turkish history.

"Those we lost in Gezi live on in our struggle for equality and freedom"

Those days, when nationalists and Kurdish democrats, secular circles and anti-capitalist Muslims, socialists, feminists, and environmentalists stood side by side, showed how social opposition could meet on a pluralistic, peaceful, and egalitarian line. That resistance does not belong only to the past; it continues to live on in the 'The Children of the Looters Have Grown Up' banners, in the human chain actions in the squares, and in today's democratic demands.

Over the years, the government's pressure has grown, and the goal of democracy has been moved away from. However, the ghost of Gezi continues to roam the skies as a symbol of hope, not oppression. The memories of our loved ones we lost in Gezi still shed light on the millions walking on the path of equality and freedom today.

Those we lost in Gezi live on in our struggle for equality and freedom.

Gezi is not the past; it is the collective memory of those walking toward the future.

We have not forgotten our collective memory, our lost ones who have become the symbols of our struggle, and we will not let them be forgotten."

News Source: 12punto