“DON’T STICK YOUR NOSE IN OUR BEDROOMS!”: PROTESTS IN GEZI PARK IN 2013 AND TURKISH POST-ISLAMISM

At the end of May 2013, several trees were cut down in Gezi Park (Istanbul) to construct a building in the spirit of the old Ottoman barracks, which was to become a shopping center. Several dozen environmental activists tried to protect the park, but the city police brutally dispersed the peaceful camp. After that, the local protest reached a completely different level and grew into a campaign that engulfed the entire country. After these protests part of the population was de facto declared second-class: the head of the Turkish state and the ruling party began to place a very strong emphasis on the Muslim / non-Muslim dichotomy, dividing people at his own discretion and implying, by Muslims, first, practicing Muslims loyal to him. The research is based on my interviews with protesters in Gezi Park and observations in the Beyoglu area during the June 2013 unrest. Most of the respondents lived there in tents after the first dispersal on May 29, 2013, until the second dispersal and closure of the park (and the adjacent Taksim Square) on the night of June 15–16, 2013 The author himself came to Istanbul on June 13 and personally witnessed second acceleration. In this article, are cited quotes from respondents and offered author’s own interpretations of the reasons for the protests associated with the assertion of status domination (according to James Scott).