Dec 03
This is a quick checklist for activists in Paris for COP-21 mobilizations. It is not an activist toolkit, nor a legal briefing. It is a mere checklist. It sure is incomplete, and we have more detailed information below. Tear gas Cover your mouth and nose. Its effect is short (at most 5-10 minutes), if you …
Feb 16
Özgecan Aslan (22 October 1995 – 11 February 2015) was a Turkish university student who was murdered as she resisted a rape attempt on 11 February 2015 on a minibus in Mersin. Her burnt body was discovered on 13 February, causing nationwide outrage and sparking protests across the country on the following days. After Özgecan’s …
Jan 11
Here is how it goes: There is a problem. The problem has causes as well as effects. You can and should talk about the causes and the effects. But please do not ignore that there is a problem. And here, more concretely. Take any of the followings: Charlie Hebdo attacks (France), Mohammed’s caricature crisis (Denmark), …
Jan 11
On July 2nd, 1993, 33 human beings, 33 Alevi’s, 33 intellectuals were burned alive in Sivas. After the Friday prayer, people who left the mosque with cries of allahuekber [Allah is the greatest], gasoline cans in hand, set them on fire… centuries after the “Dark” Age. They killed the ones who played saz the best, …
Jun 17
According to our compilation based on news items published in media, reports of labor organizations, and testimonies of workers and their families, at least 1235 workers died in 2013. Work murder, not work accident … As The Assembly for Workers’ Health and Work Security, we document deaths at workplace. The criteria for our documentation is …
Jun 12
This is a brief and incomplete compilation of what AKP leaders said about women, gender equality and feminism. It is part of our monthly theme “Why revolt in Turkey?”. Note that this is clearly not a list of all sexist or patriarchal discourse in Turkey. We aimed at a less ambitious goal of restricting our …
Jun 08
I am one of many who got detained on May Day in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. I wrote this text because I think everyone (and not only my family and friends) should know that what we experienced was unlawful. May Day was not a holiday in the advertising agency I work. Early in the morning I left my …
Jun 05
The spirit of this century seems to be one of mass struggles and highly confrontational demonstrations. Every morning, we wake up to hear about a huge protest in some distant part of the planet. It turns more and more difficult to follow what is going on here and there. But why are all these people …
Jun 02
How do you see the results in Europe, in general? The election results are, in general, worrisome. Far-right and nationalist parties won in several countries (Denmark, France, England, Austria), and increased their presence in the European Parliament (EP). Another striking feature of these elections (which also happened in 2009) is the abstention rate, which …
May 30
Editorial note: Mathieu is a political activist in the international Red and Green Alternative network and also takes part in La Bidule. Below is a short interview we made with him right after the Elections to the European Parliament. “…we are building a European identity by achieving, in common, the worst electoral results” How do you see …