What's in the menu for your uprising: Baton, Pressurized Water – Çağrı Mert Bakırcı

Riot control methods: What's in your riot's menu? How to deal with them? - Çağrı Mert Bakırcı part 1.

The Turkish original of this article, “İsyan Kontrolünde Kullanılan Yöntemler ve Biyolojik Etkileri”, signed Çağrı Mert Bakırcı, was published on June 16th, 2013 in Evrim Ağacı.org. The content of the article is as follows: Introduction, The chemicals used in riot control and their biological effects, Pressurized water, Water cannon, Armed vehicles, Scent-based weapons, Pepper gas, Tear gas and its varieties, The expiration dates of gases and their effects, Why we feel that the effect of the gases change/increase, How to protect oneself, Batons, Conclusion.

We will divide the article into parts and therefore restructure the sections for presentational reasons. This text covers the sections below, the rest will be available soon.

• Introduction
• Batons
• Pressurized water

Introduction

The uprising ignited by the Gezi Park protests resulted in millions of people being exposed to riot control methods such as baton violence, pepper gas and pressurized water. But there are plenty of unanswered questions: Which gases were used and how harmful are they? Is it possible that the orange gas was used? Which chemicals were mixed to pressurized water? What is to be done when one's exposed to any of these?

As the Wikipedia article on Riot Control states,

“Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irrational, actions which cause people to stop and think for a moment (e.g. loud noises or issuing instructions in a calm tone) can be enough to stop it. However, these methods usually fail when there is severe anger with a legitimate cause, or the riot was planned or organized. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used less lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds and detain rioters. Since the 1980s, riot control officers have also used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and electric tasers. In some cases, riot squads may also use Long Range Acoustic Devices, water cannons, armoured fighting vehicles, aerial surveillance, police dogs or mounted police on horses. Officers performing riot control typically wear protective equipment such as riot helmets, face visors, body armor (vests, neck protectors, knee pads, etc.), gas masks and riot shields. However, there are also cases where lethal weapons are used to violently suppress a protest or riot, as in the Boston Massacre, Haymarket Massacre, Banana Massacre, Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Kent State Massacre, Soweto Uprising, Mendiola Massacre, Bloody Sunday (1972) and Tiananmen Square Massacre.”

Within the scope of this article, we will not deal with lethal weapons but focus only on the chemicals that may still lead to loss of biological integrity and death. Many types of chemicals are used all around the world in riot control. While not all of them are lethal weapons, some do lead to death and are therefore monitored and prohibited by international law.

We would like to start with a remark. Below, we will talk about various chemical gases. In fact, almost none of these are actual gases, they are all aerosols. In order to avoid confusions, we will still call them “gas”.

Batons

The Wikipedia article on Baton states:

“A truncheon or baton (also called a cosh, billystick, billy club, nightstick, sap, blackjack, stick) is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal. They are carried for forced compliance and self-defense by law-enforcement officers, correctional staff, security-industry employees and (less often) military personnel. Other uses for truncheons and batons include crowd control or the dispersal of belligerent or non-compliant targets.”

In general, non-expandable straight stick is used in police interventions. It is produced of polyurethane plastic and contains a fiber stick of 10 mm radius. Its length is 65 cm and its handle is 13 cm long. It is 3 cm thick. Clearly, these numbers are approximations and they can vary from type to type and from producer to producer.

There is also the T-baton which has an additional side-handle.

As can be seen in the images, the batons can be made of wood or metal too. Besides these, there exist expandable (or telescoping) batons made of metal.

We find the technical details rather irrelevant for our purposes. We would like to explain the effects of a baton strike:

A baton strike, depending on its impact, can easily break your bones or seriously damage your organs (like your eyes, nose, mouth, chin or teeth) as well as resulting in temporary bruises. The immediate result of a strong baton strike is the destruction of the capillary vessels feeding the tissues at the point of strike. As a result, a small amount of blood fills into the tissues and lead to reddening and then to a purple bruise. In later days, this purple area becomes blue, then yellow or green, and finally the tissue is fully recovered. This change of color is due to density changes in hemoglobin, methemoglobin and sulfhemoglobin within the vessels. At least 5 grams of hemoglobin in 100 mm blood is needed to trigger a typical bruise. In anemic individuals the bruising may delay as the amount of hemoglobin is positively correlated to the speed of bruising.

There can be tingling and ache in the recovery period. If the impact is strong, more serious problems may arise. Hence, if you feel that your experience is abnormal, we recommend you to get medical support as soon as possible. Put ice cubes on the area for at least 10 minutes. This would help to stop or slow down the bleeding in the vessels and thereby you would be able to reduce the bruises.

Pressurized Water

As known, water of high pressure produces a non-point impact and can help to disperse protesters. An average water cannon can carry 8000 liters of water and can spray water at a speed of 15 liters per second. Therefore, a nonstop spraying in 10 minutes would empty its tank. The important point here is that a focused spraying of a liquid in such speed can seriously harm bodily organs. Therefore the operator should target at the feet or the legs of the protesters. Yet, as is seen in Turkey, security staff does not worry about such “technicalities” and target at the protesters' heads or chests. Such practices push protesters back severely in such a way that it even rolls them over. The primary effects of such a strike are heart attacks and neck fractures. Moreover, if pressurized water hits the eye, it can cause loss of sight or blindness. Therefore, usage of water in riot control is not as innocent as initially thought.

To avoid such effects, the responsibility is on the security forces. In case police forces are not properly controlled, those who are within the range should come nearer to the water cannon in order to pass the minimum range. (The range starts by 1 meter away from the vehicle.) Alternatively, the protesters should use obstacles or hide behind an object to reduce the impact. Otherwise, they can be subject to permanent damage.

There is an essentially important aspect of water usage in riot control: The water sprayed from water cannons is not necessarily pure water. Sometimes, chemicals are added to the mixture. These chemicals are acid and, as we will explain in further on, their effect is similar to pepper gas. Therefore, it is not strange that the sprayed water results in reddening, dermatitis and infections. The critical issue is the portion of chemicals in water, because increasing the amount of chemical can result in serious and permanent damage in individuals.

Some micro-particles can also be added to the water mixture to increase the corrosive effect. Like small sand particles, these micro-particles may result in cuts or corrosion in the skin. Hence one should not consider pressurized water as harmless.

In the next section, we will take a closer look at water cannons and examine other armed vehicles used in riot control.

Labor unions in Turkey and in Gezi protests – F. Serkan Öngel

I'm not saying “Don't unionize.” Do it, but do it in your spare time.

The Turkish original of this article, “Sendikalı olma demiyorum hobi olarak yine ol!”, signed F.Serkan Öngel, was published on August 4th, 2013 in Birgün newspaper. For our English-speaking audience, we prepared a shortened translation of the article.

Permission to Collective Agreement and Strike

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security takes its power to violate labor rights from the laws and regulations introduced by the military intervention on September 12th, 1980. One of the most important of these regulations is the issue of syndicate thresholds, which gives the state a tremendous power to intervene in the relationship between employer and employees. The law issued after September 12th restricted the right to strike for the collective agreement process and prohibited any other type of strikes. And then introduced thresholds for competency to collective agreement. The labor unions that can make collective agreement would be decided by the Ministry. The AKP government enthusiastically welcomed this anti-democratic practice and adopted it with joy. This is the mentality underlying the recent Labor Unions and Collective Agreements Law, effective by November 7th, 2012.

The direct result of this law is the robbery of the right to collective agreement. By 2018, nearly half of the registered workers will not be able to make collective agreements, even if s/he became involved in a labor union. This new law is far beyond the 1980 policies.

Where are the Labor Unions?

By the Gezi Park protests, a public demand for general strike came out. Suddenly, everyone focused on labor unions. “Where are the labor unions?” This question was the reaction towards the unions. It is nice that people, who typically are not conscious that unions are the solidarity and unity organizations of the workers (ie. themselves), who see no other choice other than submission to their boss, who cannot dare to show solidarity to their fired colleagues, who prioritize competition over solidarity in their workplace, seek for unions all of a sudden. However, the problem is that in a society where 60% of the population takes part in the wage labor, unions are seen as an external agency. It is as if unions are some superheroes waiting somewhere for a public call. In fact, any place where unity and solidarity transform into struggle for rights is the real ground for unionization.

The basis of this ground has been destroyed by the organizational changes in the production and management strategies. While laws tied the hands of labor unions, the union movement imprisoned itself within legal boundaries. Labor unions regressed dramatically. Being a union member became an exception. The state tried to tame the unions so that they would be compatible with the interests of the capital and the state, so that they are broken off from the working class. This was mostly successful.

As a result, while around half of the registered workers were unionized before 1980, this number was reduced to 20% in the 80s, then to 10% in the 90s, and finally to one-digit numbers by 2000s. The new law mentioned above removes the notary requirements [see Labor Rights in Turkey] and thereby makes unionization easier, but makes the right to collective agreement completely out of question, therefore practically forbids strikes. Unionization becomes a pure hobby for workers after this reconstruction. The logic is to increase the number of members of labor unions (as a parameter of democratization) while at the same time making them ineffective. However, all these attempts will fail as can be seen clearly in the uprising of the non-unionized masses.

The portion of labor in the national income decreased from 52% to 30% in the period 1999-2012. In the same period, the numbers of workers who practiced collective agreement fell from 11% to 5.5%. It is obvious that there is a correlation.

This picture shows that the bells toll for the working class. It is possible to say the blue-collar workers are hardly kept in the factories¹, and the June uprising is an indicator of this.

1  Reference to the statements of PM Tayyip Erdoğan who claimed that he hardly keeps his 50% [of the population] at home during the Gezi protests.

Taksim Ayaklanması - Taksim Uprising

Gezi Parkı direnişiyle başlayıp tüm Türkiye çapında bir ayaklanmaya dönüşen eylemlerle ilgili Out for Beyond'da yayınladığımız makaleleri toplu halde aşağıda bulabilirsiniz.

This is a compilation of all the articles we published on the protests that were initiated by the Gezi Park resistance and then spread to a countrywide uprising.


Halkından taraf olmayanı halk bertaraf edecek. - Özgür Düşünce Hareketi (1 Haziran 2013)
Tüm özgür düşünce savunucularını halkını dinlemeyi bertaraf etmeye çağırıyoruz ! Diren Gezi Parkı, biz geliyoruz.


Like a Tree, Like a Forest in Taksim Square - Kıvanç Eliaçık (3 June 2013)
Thousands of women and men entered a new demonstration without even having breakfast. With their home-made gas masks, they revolted against the police, sometimes by singing, sometimes by swearing.


Gezi Parkı: Burası Buluştuğumuz Yer (4 Haziran 2013)
"Kalabalıklaşmasınlar!" Oysa ters tepti, kalabalıkları oraya toplayan şey tam da bu baskı ve yoğun şiddet ortamı oldu, insanlar polis şiddeti nereye yöneliyor, gaz bombası nereye atılıyorsa bilerek ve inatla oraya yöneldiler. Şimdi elimizde bu kalabalık ve bu inat var.


Hatırlayalım: Aşk örgütlenmektir. (7 Haziran 2013)
Bu direniş ve ayaklanma dalgasının hepimize birden öğretebileceği bir şey olduğunu düşünüyoruz.


Hiç Kimsenin Yanıtıdır... (29 Haziran 2013)
... "Bir can bile kurtulacaksa, bir genç kadının gözünü kaybete ihtimalini azaltmak için farklı bir yol düşünelim." sözlerinde, Gezi Parkı'nda görmüş olduğum kadın cinayetleri, tersane ve madenlerdeki iş cinayetleri, Suriye'ye dönük saldırgan ve emperyalist politikalar, trans bireylerin linç edilmeleri, Reyhanlı ve Roboski pankartları vb. vurguları geçiştiren bir ima olduğunu hissediyorum. Evet, bir can bile kurtulacaksa, bu sistemi değiştirmek (devirmek değil, çünkü öyle yazarsak suç olur, terör olur) için elimizden geleni ardımıza koymayalım.


The Mayonnaise Phenomenon - Sinan Eden (18 July 2013)
But if there is only one thing our international comrades would learn from the uprising in Turkey, it is the mayonnaise phenomenon. If there is only one thing our international comrades would learn from the uprising in Turkey, it is the importance of political determination.


Özgür Düşünce Hareketi'nden tüm direnişçilere kısa bir mektup - Özgür Düşünce Hareketi (25 Temmuz 2013)
Bizler de Gezi Direnişi ile başlayan eylemliliğe bu açıdan, yani otoriterleşme ve tek tipleşmeye karşı bir ses yükseltme olması açısından birkaç hatırlatma yapmak istedik.


Labor unions in Turkey and in Gezi protests - F.Serkan Öngel (26 August 2013)
By the Gezi Park protests, a public demand for general strike came out. Suddenly, everyone focused on labor unions. "Where are the labor unions?"

The Mayonnaise Phenomenon – Sinan Eden

The original of this article, titled “L'alchimie de la Mayonnaise”, was published in French in Rouge & Vert, the newspaper of Les Alternatifs, on July 11th, 2013. It was written on June 23rd.

It starts with a camp to prevent the destruction of a public park in the middle of Istanbul which is attacked by the police. The number of protesters multiply, police attacks again. In a few days, one hundred thousand people are on the street, pushing police barricades at 2:00 am. In a few days, protests multiply once again; solidarity demonstrations are held in hundreds of towns.

How did this happen? How did hundreds of thousands of people started chanting “Pepper gas ! Hooray !” in front of water cannons? How did we manage to make a human line of 300 meters in İstiklal street, carrying stones and such to our barricades? (In fact, two parallel lines.)  Did anyone of us imagine that it would be possible to hear hundreds of people in the ferry chanting “Our path is the path to revolution, come brothers and sisters, come ! Our country is filled with fascists now, charge brothers and sisters, charge !”

This article tries to give a partial answer to the above questions. It will be partial, because it will not include the real reasons behind people's anger. It will not analyze the unlawful practices of the government that keeps thousands of political prisoners in jail waiting for their accusation documents to be prepared. It will not analyze the Kurdish issue, the Alawite issue or the Armenian issue. It will not analyze the imperialistic policies of the AKP government with respect to Syria. It will not analyze how AKP declared war on all ecosystems through an integrated strategy combining GMOs, coal power plants, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants and giant urban transformation projects. Neither will it analyze the Islamization of the society and of politics through an extensive transformation in the education system, through bans and restrictions on alcohol consumption, and through sexist and discriminative discourse against women and LGBT individuals. It will also not analyze the violations of labor rights, prohibitions on the 1^st of May celebrations, the systematic introduction of precarious employment or privatizations.

We exclude all the above mentioned items, because we think there is one essential point that could inspire the socialists and/or revolutionaries around the world.

We will call it the mayonnaise phenomenon.

Wikipedia states “mayonnaise is made by slowly adding oil to an egg yolk, while whisking vigorously to disperse the oil”. You should not add too much oil, because then you can spoil the mayonnaise. However, you should be very patient during whisking.

It is very curious to note that the best mayonnaise is obtained by patient repetition of a single act: slowly add oil while whisking.

As any experienced cook would testify, this is not the same as being stubborn. You are following a recipe, you are not just repeating a habit. Moreover, there is a clear way of realizing that you overdid it: it becomes butter, and a very bad quality of such.

We were protesting the nuclear power plant projects. We were arrested because we published articles criticizing the government's oppressive policies. We were detained while speaking out against the strong introduction of religious discourse in elementary schools. We were attacked by gas bombs while blocking the highway in the direction of coal power plant construction areas. We were beaten by cops in our demonstrations against the government's Syria policies.

Socialists, communists, revolutionaries in Turkey were determined to fight for the emancipation of the society, to fight for a better world. We were always there, confronting the state apparatus in the shape of riot police and gas bombs, fighting for the rights of the people. Sometimes we were a few hundred people, sometimes thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands. But mostly, hundreds.

 But guess what ! The initial campers were also some hundred people. They were attacked by the police the first day of the camp, but returned the next day. They were then attacked by the police again, but returned the next day, multiplying their numbers. They were then attacked by the police again, this time burning their tents and all their material. Then, something not expected by the rulers happened: Everyone came ! Hundreds of thousands arrived to a cloud of tear gas in Istanbul. Some 250 cities witnessed solidarity protests.

A fascist state that cannot comprehend people's demands, that does not have the concept of negotiating with the opposition, declared war to its citizens. By June 21, Turkish Medical Association reported that 4 people lost their lives, 7836 got injured of which 60 are heavily injured, 101 had head traumas and 5 are in serious condition. 11 people lost their eyes and 1 person had his spleen taken. Add to this thousands of detentions and tens of arrests, continuing via police raids while this article is being written.

Yet the country was shouting the slogan: “This is just the beginning. The struggle continues.” The Turkish society realized its power.

We showed how revolutionaries are always on the front lines for the rights of the working class. On the other hand, we saw how the people was right behind us, providing anti-acid liquids for our eyes, providing shelter in their houses during police chases, shouting “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism !”, and spreading the word via photos and videos.

It was the mayonnaise effect in action.

The wavelengths matched, and we became millions.

One may analyze the reasons, the dynamics and the consequences of the uprising in Turkey. One may try to figure out why the government never ever tried to soothe the protests, why the battle in Ankara still continues without a single day of cease fire since more than three weeks. One may indeed learn a lot about how fascism operates.

But if there is only one thing our comrades in France would learn from the uprising in Turkey, it is the mayonnaise phenomenon. If there is only one thing our comrades in France would learn from the uprising in Turkey, it is the importance of political determination. We were not as aware of it before the uprising as we are now.

If there is only one moral of this story, it is the following: We shall never give in, we shall never give up !

Like a Tree, Like a Forest in Taksim Square - Kıvanç Eliaçık

Testimony by Kıvanç Eliaçık, International Relations Office Director in DİSK (Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey)

[also published here]

My trade union is part of a platform together with professional associations and neighborhood organizations. This platform protests the construction work in Taksim that will demolish the park there. Therefore, I was following the related campaigns on Taksim Square.

When I heard that bulldozers came and the trees in the park were cut, I ran to the park. Instead of shutting down the illegal construction – the court revoked the construction project- the police, used tear gas against people who want to save the trees.

First night, we took my tents and sleeping bags and went to the park. We sang and chatted till dawn. In the evening, thousands of people were gathered. The concert was continuing on the stage. We were discussing urban regeneration, environmental destruction, human rights and workers rights. The highlight of all these discussions was that they are all the result of government policies. An ever-changing and growing committee was established.

When I woke up in the morning the camp was drowned into tear gas and everyone was running around. The police set the tents on fire. They uprooted the saplings that were planted a day before. The bulldozers were working under the protection of riot police.

We did not want to get revenge from police. Someone was reading a novel to the police with the help of a megaphone that was saved from the fire. Another one was asking “why did you set my guitar on fire?” but by singing.

When we succeeded in entering the park we set up bigger tents. In the evening there were tens of thousands people in the Square. Renowned musicians cancelled their concerts and came to the park.

People from various views came together… people and workers on strike from regions that were harmed with the corporations’ and government’s thirst for profit… Football fans, radical left parties, student organizations, feminists, anarchists, vegans…

The following night we were better prepared. The garbage was taken periodically. Volunteer security staff was visiting patrol. Women were able to walk comfortably in the camp area. Government’s new alcohol regulations converted drinking to a political action. People were chanting slogans, on the other hand they were singing songs, and drinking.

Towards the morning hundreds of goggles, gas masks, lemon, vinegar, home-made anti-tear gas solutions prepared by stomach pills were distributed. There were thousands of people in the park when the police attacked at 5 o’clock in the morning. There were no warnings and suddenly we were unable to see anything. We evacuated the park inline with the plan we made earlier.

Clashes in the street continued till morning. I managed to sneak in the park quietly getting advantage of the fatigue of the police. I watched the Bosphorus sipping my tea in the shadow of a tree. I hope it won’t be the last time I see this view.

The protestors tried to enter the park by gathering in back streets again and again. The police prevented them by using excessive use of force. The whole city turned into a rally arena. Some demonstrators walked the bridge that connects Asia and Europe.

So, who are these people that gathered in the square? It won’t be true to say that these people have common views and common aims. The only common thing was they were angry to the government… The police violence against the youth who wanted to protect the trees triggered people and all the people who are against the government were out on the streets.

Thousands of women and men who have not participated in a political demonstration before clashed with the police till late at night. The entered a new demonstration without event having breakfast. With their home-made gas masks they revolted against the police sometimes by singing, sometimes by swearing. There were demonstrators from wealthy families, but also unemployed people… From Muslim associations to socialist parties many different groups were shoulder to shoulder…

People, who soaked refuge in a barricade, were tweeting, people uploading photos to Instagram with a police helmet. Pupils were drawing nasty graffitis addressing to the Prime Minister. People drinking beer for a little rest… I met a couple who were making plans for their wedding in the telephone booth where I sheltered during a rubber bullet rain.

In the past five days, growing number of demonstrators are having fun and demonstrating at the same time without sleeping or resting. The most chanted slogan is “Resign Government!” Police violence is not driving them away. Fear is defeated now. We learned to raise our voice when we are angry. Some people are fighting, some are dancing. Some are attacking around in insobriety; some are collecting the garbage and treating the street animals.

I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow! But today is a new day and we are all new people.

What am I doing now? While ten thousand of demonstrators are asking PM to resign with several different reasons, I am writing to you on a motor hood of a knocked-over police car.

A "Street" Guide for Protesters

The following text is a free translation of “Bir Eylemci İçin Sokak Rehberi” published anonymously in Fraksiyon on April 30^th, 2012. It is aimed at providing a list of suggestions for protesters.

• Never forget that the state uses psychological violence for preventing you from going to the street. Trust your companions and feel your legitimate actions.
• Have a small action committee. Try to stick together as much as you can. Keep communication channels open.
• Beware provocations. Even a few motivated people can become natural leaders of a mass demonstrations. Come up with ideas to maintain the action, and let your creativity flow.
• The strongest side of an action is its unpredictability. Do not act according to how the state would predict.
• Spread the action. Tell by-walkers about the action and expose state violence.
• Be careful with your reactions towards objects that are not directly state's tools of violence or symbols thereof. Choose your targets wisely so that those who do not take part do not get confused about your acts.
• Put sneakers on in order to facilitate running.
• Put on clothes that would cover most part of your skin in order to protect yourself from sun and teargas. Light raincoats recommended.
• Get eye protection. Take care that it is resistant to cracking. Sunglasses, goggles or gas masks recommended.
• Have gas masks or a scarf and eyeglasses.
• Take light extra clothes. (in case of yours get wet, painted etc.)
• A hat or a helmet for protection from sunlight and from chemicals.
• In case of direct contact with any kind of chemicals, never put on petroleum jelly, mineral oil, oil-based suncream or moisturizer. Only if it is summer time and you will be exposed to direct sunlight for a long time, put a little bit of suncream (even if it is oil-based), because teargas on sunburned areas hurts a lot.
• Never have contact lenses on.

How to protect yourself

• Apple vinegar is one of the simplest ways for breathing. You can prepare scarfs submersed into apple vinegar and keep them in your bag. In case of teargas attacks, cover your mouth and nose tightly with the scarf. If you don't have apple vinegar, lemon juice can be used.
  
• In case of a teargas attack, try to climb up the hill as much as you can, and never kneel down even if you are exhausted.
  
• When exposed to teargas, clean your nose, gargle, cough and spit, try not to swallow it.
  
• Never rub your eyes.
  
• You can prepare a baking soda for your skin and carry it with you. (around 5% baking powder in water) When exposed to teargas, you can treat your skin with the soda to neutralize the chemicals.
  
• Another method for your skin is to scrub it with alcohol (pay special attention to keep alcohol away from your eyes) and then put canola oil. To do this, get a sponge, immerse the oil in the sponge and apply it to the parts exposed to teargas.
  
• To clean your eyes from chemicals, you can use milk. Take half a teacup of milk, tilt your head backwards, drop a little bit of the milk to clean your eyes.
  
• Spread your arms wide, make movements.
  
• Take off all the clothes with teargas and wash them with detergent. If you cannot wash them immediately, take them off, put them in a plastic bag, and leave them outdoors (such as in your balcony).
  
• If you cannot go home right after being exposed to teargas, get rid off your clothes as soon as possible (including underwear). Carrying extra clothes recommended.
  
• Take a cold shower. Before taking the shower, pay attention not to touch your eyes, your face, people around you or even the objects in your house. Wait five minutes under cold shower without using soap or without rubbing your skin. Only after the cold shower, use mild water and soap. Do not take a bath.
  

Turkey's 9/11 : Reyhanlı

Editor's note: This is a compilation of news items and articles originally published in Turkish. With the exception of the introduction, we do not claim any intellectual nor political credit for the text. All the analyses belong to the authors of the texts referred to at the end of each paragraph. Yet, the mistakes and misinterpretations are due to our misunderstanding of the analyses.

Please read our previous news item on the subject and check the Syria label for further comments.

On Saturday, May 11th, two car explosions were reported in Reyhanlı, Turkey. The first numbers were 4 dead and 20 injuries. The number of deaths later increased to 8, then to 22, and then to 46, and then came the media blackout issued by the government, prohibiting any kind of journalist activities on the matter. In general, such big events cannot be analyzed without a big margin of error due to macro-political secrecies, but this time we do not even know how many citizens lost their lives. There is a widespread rumor, claimed to be reported by local hospitals, that the actual number is 177 deaths, and as for injuries hundred seems to be the significant digit.

This news item aims at separating evidence-based factual information from speculative analysis. This is not to underrate political analysis in any way. Due to media blackout accompanied with auto-censorship in mainstream media, it became especially difficult to reach proper information on the matter. Therefore, we have had hard time preparing a well-designed analysis.

Facts and observations

After the explosions, government officials pointed the Assad regime and so did the media. Vice prime minister Beşir Atalay claimed that the investigations concluded that Al Muhaberat, an organization allied with the Syrian government forces, is responsible for the attacks. Minister of Internal Affairs Muammer Güler confirmed Atalay's statement.[1] On Sunday, 10 people were arrested for investigations. The authorities did not let anyone enter the crime scene, including parliamentarians of the opposition parties. A deputy reported that the excuse was that they were collecting evidence, yet what the deputies observed was that the police was destroying evidence with heavy construction equipment. [2]

The locals are outraged due to the complete indifference in media, as almost all TV channels continued showing their prime time programs, ranging from sitcoms to reality shows. One local, when noticed the camera of a BBC journalist after a funeral, complained “What are you doing? We warned you hundreds of times before, you ignored it. Look, I am an enemy of this state. Let them put me in jail, I hope they do.” Another one reacted “So many people died, no one is sharing our sorrow. TV channels are shouting at us with their entertainment shows. What kind of mourning is this?” [3]

The National Intelligence Service (MİT) claimed that the bombs were loaded in Ar-Raqqah, Syria. This does not seem plausible due to the followings: Since March, Ar-Raqqah is under control of the Al Nusra Front, an organization affiliated to Al Qaida. It is a town that is 300 km away from the Yayladağı border gate, which MİT claimed the cars crossed the border. The area is strictly controlled both by the Syrian state and by the rebels. Furthermore, this would imply that two cars loaded with explosives managed to pass through the border gates of Turkey, which in fact turns out to be the only reasonable part of the narrative. [4]

The government officials repeatedly argued that this was the first time the Syrian civil war affected Turkish citizens. This is plain wrong, recalling the terrorist attack in Gaziantep in August 2012 killing nine [5] (successfully covered up by the government), and the Free Syrian Army militants who tried to cross the borders without passport check and get into a conflict with the security forces on May 2nd, killing one security official in Akçakale. [6]

What is actually happening?

There are two scenarios voiced by the political analysts.

First is that the Syrian regime is responsible for the attacks, menacing the Turkish government for supporting and sheltering the rebels. The aim is to put Turkey's Syrian policies into question in public opinion and therefore isolate Turkey's aggressive interventionist policies with respect to Syria. As Turkey would not get enough support from the US, who in turn is continuing its bargains with Russia, Turkey would have to converge into a more cautious position.

The second scenario is that the attack is a provocation to get Turkey involved in the conflicts in Syria. Some elements in the opposition organized the attacks to create outrage and terror in the public, resulting in a more aggressive policy with respect to Syria. The government, in search of becoming a “regional leader”, may have direct role in the attacks. If it doesn't, it would still use this opportunity with this perspective. In short, the attacks are a kind of September 11 for Turkey, a provocation to make the government take active part in the Syrian civil war. [7]

We observe that the latter scenario is swept away in mainstream media, both Turkish and international. Yet it is voiced coherently among Turkish left, and we therefore want to highlight some of its main features below.

We start by summarizing an analyis by Hamide Yiğit in Sendika.org.

The explosions were first reported in The Syrian Revolution 2011 website of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The website said “Explosions in Reyhanlı. Tens of deaths.” This does not sound natural, given that Turkish news agencies were yet reporting 4 deaths at that moment.

Yet there is an important detail. Mohamad Damascian who uploaded the video to the page commented “Admin, here is the video. Take it Erdoğan. With Allah's permission, the next bomb will be in Ankara, pig!” After a while when the Turkish media and the Syrian rebels started to state that the attacks were done by the Assad regime, the video was deleted and re-uploaded without the comment.

Yiğit notes that this website consists of heterogeneous members, belonging to a variety of opposition groups. Hence, it is not straightforward to relate a post with a particular organization such as Al Nusra or FSA.

It is well known that FSA and Al Nusra have conflicts of interests, although both are supported and partially controlled by the Turkish government. After the US and France putting Al Nusra into the list of terrorist organizations, it is plausible to assume that Turkey may have put a distance, and that therefore Al Nusra is now attempting to threaten the government.

Lastly, Syrian Information Minister Umran Zubi made a press conference on Sunday and argued that “the real terrorists are Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government”. Zubi firmly rejected any responsibility and relation to the attacks, calling the dead citizens “martyrs”. He also underlined that the Turkish government is trying create an excuse to take the support of NATO for invading Syria.

Next, we highlight some points in an analysis of Hatice Pınar Şenoğuz, published in Bianet.

The article of Şenoğuz highlights that the Turkish state is actually standing firm in its border policies, in a semipermeable way.

The government first called the refugees “guests”, but later, when necessary, did not hesitate to send them back through the mined zone (Kilis, September 2012) or to start shooting at the borders to stop new comers due to lack of space in the camps. (Kilis, September 2012 and Akçakale, April 2013) When the tensions increased in Hatay, the city governor sent the refugees out of town. However, the government did not bother about the tensions caused by the rebels sheltered in the camps nor did it reallocate military camps to less tense regions.

Furthermore, it was reported that the security cameras on the streets were off due to a “system error”. Apparently many of the 73 security cameras were pointed directly at the explosion zones and this system error occurred a few days before the explosions. [8]

Finally, we would like to emphasize that government officials never mentioned a call for a national mournin (although RedHack organized one by hacking the website of Hatay City Governance [9]). This may be considered as a further evidence to argue for the government's intention for increased aggression.

Now we are waiting for the Erdoğan and Obama meeting, it seems only after that will we receive more news/analysis about Reyhanlı according to the needs of this strategical collaboration.

How to Confront Police Violence

The following text is a free translation of “1 Mayıs'ta cop, gaz ve panzere karşı koyma rehberi” by Onur Erem, published in Birgün newspaper's website on April 30^th, 2013. The original Turkish article aims at providing protesters with basic information on how to deal with police violence.

>> Health responsible: Being exposed to different physical attacks in protests may cause injuries, asthma crises and similar health problems. The equipment to handle such situations would slow down the protesters, and many may not be able to afford them in the first place. Therefore, choose someone in your group as responsible from health issues. This person should have with her/him basic material such as lemon, water, milk, vinegar, gauntlet and band aids. It is very important that this person does not confront the police and waits at a distance to the conflict, so that s/he is not detained with all your equipment.

>> Teargas spray / capsule: The use of teargas in demonstrations has been increasing drastically. It creates panic in the mass and scatters the protesters. Health effects include burning in the eyes, nose, skin, throat and lungs, fainting, and asthma crises. To protect your self from teargas, you must have long sleeved clothes and/or rubber raincoats on. On those parts exposed to direct air (such as your face, hands etc), it is important to put water-based sun cream. (and definitely not oil-based)

When exposed to teargas, use eye drops, water and milk to clean your eyes. To reduce the effects into minimum, cover your nose with a piece of cloth (or some cheap sterile mask you can find in pharmacies) that you submerged into lemon juice or vinegar. (Lemon and vinegar are acidic, whereas the teargas is basic. They eliminate each other.) You can apply the vinegar to all the parts of your skin that are exposed to direct air. Also, using goggles or swim masks would significantly reduce the negative effects on your eyes. This is especially important for people who use contact lenses.

Windy weather conditions reduce the effect of teargas. If you manage to take the wind to your behind, this would result in teargas going back to the police.

If the teargas was not sprayed but shot as a capsule, protect your hand with a thick cloth/glove, take the capsule and throw it back to the police. It is essential that your cloth or glove is not plastic. Plastic material can melt and stick into your hand.

Finally, it is a better idea not to take a shower before the protest. You can let your pores close by not taking a shower as long as you can before a protest. This would reduce the negative effects of teargas in your body.

>> Steel baton – stun baton: The cops may have different batons for different purposes. In addition to the classic baton that we are familiar with, there are new varieties such as the expandable baton which suddenly expands from a 15 cm stick to a 50 cm club, and the stun baton which administer an electric shock on the target. There are several ways to avoid batons. First, have put protective clothes on. You can further reduce the impact by covering your body with plastic bottles, camping mats etc., or by having life jackets on. Having protective helmets on may help as well, and not only from batons but also from teargas capsules.

Another way to protect yourself from batons is to use a shield. Lids of waste containers and many other plastic and/or metal material you can find on the street are in fact good enough to protect you from major injuries. If you are a large group, an acrylic glass board make it possible for you to block the batons, stop the cops, and even to disarm some of them by jamming them into a corner. This material (the acrylic glass, or more correctly Pleksiglas) is commonly used all around the world to protect protesters from being dispersed by the police. In order to hold it strongly, you must produce handles on your side. Instead of acrylic glass, you can also use big tractor tyres.

>> The water cannon: The acrylic glass boards and shields mentioned above can also be used to withstand the water cannons. If you don't have any of these materials, you can try to lead the water cannon into a small street by following you. Once it enters the narrow streets, the water cannon loses its maneuver possibilities. Either it takes the risk and you neutralize one watter cannon, or it doesn't and you got over it.

>> Action photographer/cameraman: It is important that several protesters take photos or video recordings in order to document illegal acts of the police. As mainstream media generally watches the situation behind the police and from a long distance, if protesters take photos during the action, many illegal practices (such as direct exposition of teargas to the face) can be documented. For those who take this responsibility, we advise to switch off face detection and similar properties, that could reduce the speed of the camera and therefore make you lose very precious seconds. Automatic focus and automatic iso modes, on the other hand, ease the work because everyone is moving. Instead of looking at the photos taken, we advise to leave it to the end of the protest, in order not to lose important scenes. If you suppose the protest to take a long time, not keeping the resolution at the highest level is a good idea so that the memory card would not be full in the middle of the protest.

4 + 4 + 4 Why “Religionization” of Public Education is Harmful – Özgür Düşünce Hareketi

Editorial note: This article, “4+4+4 Dinselleşen Eğitim Sisteminin Zararları” (Part 1 and Part 2) was written collectively by Özgür Düşünce Hareketi (Free Thought Movement) in Turkey. It makes a thorough analysis of the recent transformations in the Turkish education system. We, Out for Beyond, decided to take this opportunity to provide an account of the educational reforms, referred to as 4+4+4 in Turkey (meaning that primary education, secondary school education and high school education will take four years each). The original text is intended for the Turkish audience, we therefore shortened the text and added footnotes in the translation for the English-speaking readers.

We are thankful to Broyd who carefully went over the translation, made essential corrections, and read the proofs of the text.

Note on translation: The original article frequently uses a term, which literally translates as “religionization”.It is in fact a well-established political term in Turkey, which is used as an antonym to “secularization”. It is not the same as reshaping the education system (or the society in general) in a dogmatic, non-evidence-based way; because the process is considered as a planned introduction of religious ideology into the social and political realms. It is also not Islamization, since it encompasses many aspects (such as creationism in biology textbooks) that are not restricted to Islamic ideology. Therefore, we chose to keep the literal translation “religionization” within quotation marks.

Hundreds of topics arise under the issue of “Turkey's education problems”. The most recent of those is the new system, referred as “4+4+4”, which prescribes an education system of separate schools, each taking four years. However, in order to understand this last reform and its singularity, we must first take a broader look at the education system in large and how it operates.

It is clear that the AKP¹ government pushes the education question as part of the “religionization” of the country as a whole. A combination of many factors led AKP to rise and enabled structural transformations in several items. This can be seen as AKP's desire as well as its promise. In accordance with the regional changes in the Middle East, the state paradigm must have changed too, and the arrow of change pointed against existing progress.

AKP's policies have always accorded with this wind of change. Hence, the intervention in the education sector started far earlier than the most recent reforms. Some concrete indicators are as follows: In contrast to the huge need for teachers, many unemployed teachers are put aside in the annual assignments whereas thousands of religion teachers are employed – and many of them take administrative roles in the schools. The curricula have been constantly modified in favor of creationism. The Imam Hatip High Schools² were taken off from vocational school status. There is an increasingly common discourse of “prayer rooms for each school”. The personnel of TÜBİTAK³ were replaced according to government's ideological priorities. In the rectoral elections in the universities, the president Abdullah Gül has not complied with the election results and assigned rectors according to other political preferences.

Although AKP had the opportunity to demolish the education system in Turkey, the foundation of this transformation was laid by previous governments. The greatest damage done to Turkish education system was due to the military intervention of 12 September 1980. This coup d'etat inserted religious education into primary schools and secondary schools, a strategic step towards a more religious society. The 1982 Constitution states in Article 24 that

“Education and instruction in religion and ethics shall be conducted under state supervision and control. Instruction in religious culture and moral education shall be compulsory in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. Other religious education and instruction shall be subject to the individual’s own desire, and in the case of minors, to the request of their legal representatives.”

This article not only immersed a harmful element into the formal educational curriculum but also paved the way for small children to be registered into religion courses not controlled by state authorities.

Let us now take a deep breath and ask ourselves: Why is the “religionization” of public education harmful?

It is a well known pedagogical fact that education should be given according to the cognitive and physical development of the child. With this in mind, we have a three-fold answer to our question.

1) Between ages of 6 and 11, children are capable of internalizing only concrete concepts. They can find simple solutions to simple problems, understand commands and exercise the necessary actions. What they cannot do is to contemplate abstract concepts and take actions about them.

In this period, one can talk to a child about all concrete things such as apples, toys and cars, but the child cannot make sense of concepts such as god, heaven, hell, demon and so on. Therefore, such a child would not have a healthy cognitive development because s/he would grow up in a terrifying environment where someone who watches her/him all the time, making notes of every single action and which s/he cannot see nor touch nor hear, an entity which will punish her/him for all her/his faults. The child would further grow strong guilt feelings whenever s/he does something (intentionally or unintentionally) that the religion orders her/him not to do. This would have deep psychological consequences.

After age 11, on the other hand, the child enters a critical stage in cognitive skills where s/he develops critical thinking skills. Therefore, the teaching of dogmatic, unquestionable knowledge would hinder this development.

2) Another harmful aspect of the “religionization” of education was deliberately introduced by the policy makers. The 1982 Constitution defines the religion course as “Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge”, thereby implying that morality is a concept directly linked to religion. Via compulsory religious courses, the borders of “morality” are framed and restricted by a particular sect (the Sunni interpretation) of a particular religion (Islam). This approach not only indoctrinates the unfounded claim of “no religion means no morality” but also undermines the education of morality and of religion.

3) As a direct consequence of secularism, public education should see to it that each individual is provided with the critical thinking skills that would enable her/him to reach her/his own conclusions about the world and give her/him the possibilities of self realization.

We have been observing the harmful consequences of the “religionization” of education for a long time, especially with the theory of evolution. This “spiteful of science” attitude will increase with the recently introduced religion courses. For instance, the new “Basic Religious Knowledge” course includes phrases like “the fine tuning in the universe”, “perfect human”, “intentional creation” as chapters' morals. These statements are not supported by evidence, and in fact contradict with it. The same course aims at teaching that “the aim of the creation of human is to worship Allah”. It is further clear that whenever there is conflict between the content of this course and other courses, the values and the information in the other courses will be censured.

The new education system surpasses the 1982 Constitution. Not content with the so-called “Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge” course, the system introduces “Arabic” in primary school and “Basic Religious Knowledge”, “The Holy Koran” and “The Life Of the Prophet Mohammed”, thereby teaching religious knowledge continuously. We should emphasize that by religious knowledge is meant the theological knowledge of Islam's Sunni sect.⁴ One example of this approach can be seen in the textbook for the course “The Life Of the Prophet Mohammed”, aimed at ninth grade students:

“By linking chastity with faith, Our High Prophet states that pudicity and faith are inseparable. On this issue, he spoke 'As a matter of fact, pudicity and faith are holistically united. If one disappears, the other disappears as well.' As can be understood from this hadith, pudicity and faith are closely connected to each other. When one is nonexistent, there is a danger for the other to vanish too.”⁵

Yet another problem of this system is that the Koran will be read in Arabic for the course “The Holy Koran”, as in the religious courses enforced by the state, due to the ridiculous claim that the book has its own language. However, for someone to understand the Koran or any other book (independent of whether it is considered holy or not) it is essential that one reads it in a language that one is competent in and at an age when one can grasp its content. It is clear that the (elective) Arabic course would not suffice for the students to comprehend the book properly and therefore what is expected from them is that they memorize it. This is manifested publicly several times. One instance is that the 85^th page of the instructor's book for “The Holy Koran” course gives hints on “some principles on how to make surah apprehension easier” where it is explained how the students can easily “memorize” those surah's. Moreover, Ömer Dinçer, the Minister of Education, confessed in an interview⁶ that the students “would not understand what they read”:

“But the Parliament declared: The teaching of Koran and the Life of Our Prophet. We will teach it in secondary school and in high school. We will teach how to read the Koran like Turkish. After all, Arabic is an elective course. We will not teach Arabic. It is a different issue to read Koran based on the Arabic alphabet in the Arabic language. This means, the child will learn how to read a word written with Arabic letters, but the thing s/he will read will be Koran. We will create a curriculum. S/he will read but will not understand. After all, the majority of those who read the Koran do not understand it, they read it as a holy book.”

The “religionization” is not the only problem arising from the new 4+4+4 system. At first glance, we notice the following: The system lets children of age 5-5.5 enter the primary schools, when they are not physiologically ready to hold pencils nor cognitively prepared to understand and implement commands. As a consequence, primary education is now reduced, in practice, to three years. Furthermore, by fifth grade, the classes will be given by branch teachers, resulting in reallocation and unemployment of many teachers. Also, the early start to schooling without any infrastructural preparations will result in overly crowded classrooms. We would like to give some examples of complaints in order to make the point clearer.

The Education Workers' Union released a declaration⁷, emphasizing that the separation of primary and secondary education in a manner that is not based on pedagogical principles would imply an increase in child employment and child brides. The way is now legally cleared away for the seclusion and forced marriage of female children, as child brides are generally of age 13, 14 and 15.

According to an interview published in haber.sol.org.tr on September 21st, 2012, Ertan Uysal, the chairman of the Education Workers' Union in Tokat, made the following remark:

“... while the mere existence of religious culture courses in private schools is controversial, it is a big problem to introduce forced elective courses on religion. This imposition of religious education on students who would primarily need courses such as arts, music and sports resembles the paradigm of the Middle Ages.”⁸

Much earlier than this interview, Hürriyet newspaper made a news item⁹ on the letters sent to the Ministry of Education by the parents. Here are a few items from those letters:

“ - I don't want my 5-year old child to get on and off the bus by himself to reach home.

- I don't want my child to be pressed by the class teacher who is forced to finish the annual curriculum.

- I don't want my 5-year old child to be open to the same risks as the students of age 12-13.

- While 7-year old children are having difficulties, I don't want my 5-year old child to start primary school.

The “religionization” of education is a big problem. When this transformation is accompanied by unhealthy, inconvenient practices, it may give rise to a social disaster. In order to prevent this, it is urgently needed to sweep away religious ideologies, not only from education but from all levels of the state affairs.

As Özgür Düşünce Hareketi, we believe that several reforms should be made.

1. Mixed-sex education should never be questioned. The religious separation of the two genders is one of the most important causes of gender inequalities and male violence. Furthermore, children that grew up in an environment where men and women are categorically separated would have difficulties in making sense of transgender identities and would be conditioned to transphobia.
   
2. Religious knowledge should be presented in the context of the history courses, under the title of history of religions and then one item being Islam. If religion teachers will be trained, they should get proper pedagogical formation.
   
3. Imam Hatip Schools should be abolished, as they give the teaching of the practices of a selected religion.
   
4. The so-called elective but practically compulsory religion courses should be abolished. Religious practices should not be taught to non-adults.
   
5. The new regulations on the dress code that promotes the imposition of headscarves on female children should be withdrawn.
   

1 Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – Justice and Development Party. The governing party in the Turkish parliament since the 2002 elections.

2Religious Vocational High Schools, that are meant to train imams but are in practice training for any profession.

3Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu – The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.

4 Talim ve Terbiye Kurulu Öğretim Programları: http://ttkb.meb.gov.tr/www/ogretim-programlari/icerik/72

5 Ortaöğretim “Hz. Muhammed’in Hayatı” 9. Sınıf Öğretim Materyali: http://ttkb.meb.gov.tr/dosyalar/kitaplar/hzmuhammedinhayati_9.pdf – s. 41.

6 http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/20293658.asp

7 http://www.egitimsen.org.tr/genel/bizden_detay.php?kod=217&sube=0#.UQZLPx3VdHJ

8 http://haber.sol.org.tr/kent-gundemleri/444-sistemi-tokatta-da-bircok-sorunla-basladi-haberi-59890

9 http://siyaset.milliyet.com.tr/tbmm-ye-4-4-4-sikayeti-yagdi/siyaset/siyasetdetay/02.04.2012/1522766/default.htm