THE BARRICADES

Climbing  İnönü Caddesi, a moderately steep half-mile hill from Kabataş on the Bosphorus to Taksim, I passed a series of barricades. Amazing ingenuity by the Turkish Youth. Skillful arrangement of defenses with great attention to detail. They knew what Mustafa Kemal had done at Gallipoli. Seize and hold the high ground. There was a real battle here, make no mistake about that. And it was initiated by the only side with weapons, Erdoğan's brutal police. This place is an outdoor museum to humanity's struggle for freedom against the dark forces of ignorance. As Mustafa Kemal said, "Give me freedom or give me death." 

"Ya İstiklal Ya Ölüm!"