I spoke earlier today with “Natasha,” an American living in Istanbul, Turkey, to get her take on the recent wave of massive protests throughout Turkey — I wanted to know what initially sparked the protests, how the riot police have responded, and what the average Turk thinks of all this.
The protesting in Turkey “isn’t like the Arab Spring,” in her view, and instead reflects focused anger and disappointment over a particular politician, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan… rather than some kind of sweeping societal change.
Also, although the economic situation in Turkey sounds tough for young people, it honestly doesn’t sound much worse than the job climate that recent university graduates here in the United States face.
I asked her if she felt the protests were wrapping up at this point. “I don’t think it’s dying down at all… people are still very energized,” she replied.
Listen to our whole interview right here, she also speaks about Turkish anger over their media’s lack of coverage — and the media’s tendency to side with police forces’ official story, rather than the protesters:
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