Reflections on Turkish pro and anti-government demonstrations

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Well... there are foreigners among "Gezi Park" protesters but so are there among "Kazlıçeşme" ralliers. Foreigners, please get your butt out of internal affairs and support your side with your heart ONLY! You only mess things around. It is not your country and you are not entitled to a vote. Today we wanted to go to Taksim Sunday market to buy food supplies but the metro was closed to Taksim. We decided to walk the 20-minute way instead. Although we noticed a lot of riot police and we could smell fresh gassed air as we walked, we did not expect that protesters will be gathering in the same place. We reached a point where we had to run back as police water hoses started firing. I lost my friends Yassir & Zabih as I took shelter in a nearby shopping center with other protesters. The stores owners were nice to allow us in so that nobody gets hurt. I remained silent as I was not a protester myself ( also I barely know Turkish so I cannot say much). It was short after street was cleared and we got out. As I was passing, I saw one police person with a gun shouting and later kicking a seemingly peaceful protester. I don't know what had happened so I cannot make a judgement but certainly I felt very bad as just because you have your police uniform and gun, you can bully people. I've seen same situation before in Yemen with a worse part that once a trooper ( in  Yemen army & national guard are sometimes used for riot police) gets in fight with a protester, his colleagues would join him in beating up that protester. I think I am lost in detail now but the point I am trying to make here is that I realized today that I am more affected by current developments than I thought. I pray that Turkish people will find ways to resolve their issues. People have to compromise. I've heard protesters today calling Erdogan to resign. I find this a bit  "unrealistic" as people who accepted democracy, should respect what people chose for themselves. You did not vote for Erdogan so you cannot expect his policies to be in alignment with your wishes. Equally, calling people "traitors" is also wrong. I think anti-government protesters love their country as much as others do but the problem is that when you embrace an ideaology of any kind,it makes you automatically hate ( and prejudiced against)  a certain group and that is exactly what is happening. Foreigners, if you are here for study and work and would like to continue doing so, please help preserve the social fabric. Crisis stagnates economy and many other things and that will not help you during your stay here. 

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