Çapulcu Mehmet Güleryüz

Mehmet Güleryüz comments on the Protests in Istanbul from Mahalla Festival on Vimeo.

Turkish artist Mehmet Güleryüz sees the protests in Istanbul and other parts of Turkey as a fundamental fight for civil rights and an answer to the despotic style of Primeminister Erdoğan. He attended the protests in Istanbul to condemn the violence of the police forces against peaceful demonstrators. While doing a sitting strike together with the Unionistst from DiSK the 75 year old got attacked by a Watercannon and the heavy usage of Tear gas.

Mehmet Güleryüz underlines his personal concerns for the Taksim area, where the protests in Istanbul are centered. The artist is a painter, sculpturer, writer and performed as well as a theatre actor on stage in the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi. The famous building, which is the heart of Taksim Square, was created in the spirit of the modernizing Twenties and Thirties. Gezi Park was designed as a green, public place for recreation. The AKM had several stages, a cinema and was itseld an architectural piece of art. Since several years it is empty and Primeminister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared again in these days, that it is going to be demolished.

Music in the Video: Boğaziçi Caz Korosu at GEZİ PARKI, 06.06.2013