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Citizen Initiative for Constant Light mobilized 30 million people in Turkey to turn off and on their lights to demand that the government act against corruption. The action resulted from public outrage after a car crash openly revealed connections between government, police and the mob.

Turkey is a secular nation with a tradition of democracy. But it also has a tradition of human rights abuse. The influence of corruption extends throughout society through local patronage systems undeterred by any investigative reporting from a mass media industry, which is itself complicit in the corruption. As a result, the corruption issue has historically sparked only apathy and hopelessness in Turkish civil society.

The scandal offered the potential to raise a public outcry and push for some real change. A group began meeting to discuss a strategy.  They soon formed Citizen Initiative for Constant Light.   They began planning a simple, risk-free action that could involve the largest number of people possible.  It launched a “call from citizen to citizen,” setting off an enthusiastic chain of events that no one ever could have predicted. Citizens throughout Turkey began turning off their lights off at 9 pm every night until the members of the crime syndicate – politicians, police, the mob – in the parliament were brought to justice.

Once the mobilizing action was conceived, numerous other creative professionals became involved in creating messages and images to promote the campaign, including advertising professionals, filmmakers, graphic designers, illustrators, merchandising experts, journalists and experienced political activists.   The Citizen Initiative used professional communication techniques to create messages for mass appeal, and it made a big difference. They created catchy slogans, and humorous visual images. The organizers depended on the media, and effectively took advantage of every opportunity to feed in to the media’s need to appear ‘clean’ in the face of corruption.

Faxes and press releases were designed for mass distribution to the citizenry. All the press releases were signed: “Listen to the voice of the silent majority!” Spreading the word required media support and an alliance of grassroots organizations that would alert their members. The Citizen Initiative studied articles by nearly 60 newspaper and magazine columnists, seeking out allies in the press and studying the media’s own anti-corruption language and messages. Columnists joined in the effort, writing about state corruption, the need for a huge public participation and the importance of the consequences of the scandal.   

The “call to action” fax was circulated rapidly to as many in the population as possible. To ensure that the message did not appear to have any ideological bias, the organizers first approached the most non-political group they could think of: the Istanbul Coordination of Chambers of Professions, who immediately agreed to cooperate. The organizers also approached the member chambers of various professions, in order to involve them in the effort. Unions and NGOs also participated. Each group distributed a one-page fax to their members and asked them to distribute it to their neighbors, friends and relatives. A spontaneous chain of communication took advantage of all the many formal and informal connections among different sectors of the population.

On February 1, 1997, at precisely 9 p.m., the lights started to go out in Istanbul and other cities. Household after household, in a perfectly synchronized mass action, turned off their lights for one full minute. On February 2, the same thing again, only more houses. By February 15, an estimated 30 million Turkish households throughout the country were participating in the biggest public protest against corruption in Turkish history.

Turning off the lights for one minute was all the organizers had suggested anyone do. As the action’s momentum grew, people spontaneously went beyond the suggested one minute. They began flicking their lights on and off repeatedly, turning the cities of Turkey into a light show. Then people began opening their windows, blowing whistles, banging pots and pans. Finally, people began pouring out into the streets. Cars on the highways stopped and began blowing their horns. Even the most affluent neighborhoods in Turkey were turned into spontaneous street carnivals.

The first week of lights proved to everyone that there was massive support for the campaign. This changed people’s perceptions of the danger and the hopelessness they had always associated with confronting corruption.   Protesters from Turkey’s 36 cities and 81 townships communicated with the Citizen Initiative for Light via telephone and fax. Many regions established their own initiatives.

Their actions forced judicial investigations, and among the Turkish citizenry, contributed to a long-term groundswell of active concern about corruption. Although the huge problem of corruption in Turkey remains, these events opened a door for criticism, questioning and even legal action against some of those involved. By 2001, Turkey had an interior minister launching a series of high-profile operations as part of a crusade against corruption. In 2002, the populace threw out the majority of the parliament in a surprising election that many believe was in part retaliation against corruption.