Today's online edition of Today's Zaman has an interesting article about a silent protest march in the Tünel neighborhood in Istanbul. On our tour, we rode the Tünel funicular train from near the Jewish Museum to the very European-feeling İstiklal Avenue, in the Beyoğlu neighborhood. The photo shows our beloved guide Zaynep shepherding us aboard the train.
The protest demonstration appears to have been aimed at recent moves by the establishment (the secularist elite) to use non-military instruments of power, particularly the judiciary, to accomplish the equivalent of a military coup d’état. I'm not qualified to comment on the details of the speakers or statements at the event, but I'm impressed with the way the newspaper covered the event, and printed the essence of the organizers' public statements. I wish that American press coverage accurately reported the message of large public protest demonstrations.
Another cool thing was that they covered the participation of "Lambda-- a gay rights association --" in organizing the event. A nascent movement for LGBTQ civil rights making common cause against repression with advocates of religious freedom stands out for me. I don't know of any association between the Gülen movement and this demonstration. Yet, if the spirits behind this political demonstration for Muslim religious freedom can peacefully (and productively) coexist with Lambda, then their commitment to peaceful coexistence in general looks strong indeed.
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