Today on the net, activists across Turkey inspired by “standing man’s” silent protest in Taksim Square; fast food restaurants in the US hit by a series of embarrassing scandals; and one blog’s satirical take on recently exposed Internet surveillance program Prism…
“Standing man” inspires Turkey protesters
Erdem Gündüz came to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Monday night as it was getting dark, and then the 34 year old choreographer stood there for hours staring at the Turkish flag and the portrait of the founder of modern Turkey Atatürk. Demonstrators were evacuated from Taksim Square on Saturday after near to three weeks of occupation. It has been sealed off from mass protests, but pedestrians are allowed to enter, so here we have a new form of resistance.
News of his peaceful protest soon spread across social media platforms under the hashtag “Duran Adam" meaning “Standing Man”. And although he was planning to standalone for one month, with just three hours break every 24 hours, as the evening wore on, he was joined by dozens of others who came to stand beside him.
But police moved in at around 2am to remove the silent protesters. A number of protesters were arrested and released shortly afterwards, Erdum Gündüz however managed to avoid any police contact.
It would seem his actions have inspired Turkish protesters, who have been looking for different ways of demonstrating their opposition. Standing man has indeed become one of the symbols of the protests against Prime Minister Rece... Go on reading on our web site.
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