MGJR Volume 1 2013 | Page 14

ISTANBUL - Before I visited Turkey with the Istanbul Cultural Center in Jacksonville last May, I did what any halfway decent journalist would do - I boned up on background and issues dominating that country.

Between the literature and lectures supplied by our guides from the center – part of a network of centers that work to build international dialogue and to break down stereotypes about Islam and Middle Eastern culture – and the most recent U.S. articles that focused on Turkey’s emergence as a power player in the region, I figured I was versed enough in that country’s story to place the historical and natural sights that I would see into a context that would enlighten readers.

Then Taksim Square happened.

On the day that I left that country after being there for two weeks, what began as a peaceful protest against the Turkish government’s decision to build a shopping mall in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and Taksim Square – one of that city’s revered green spaces – erupted into a bloody, smoke-filled battle zone.

That happened largely because Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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g By Tonyaa J. Weathersbee