Turkey

didemermis

dermis — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:17:44 -0500

Didem Ermis was born on 10th of December, 1982 in Istanbul. Following her graduation from Sabanci University's Cultural Studies undergraduate program in 2004, she began working in Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - hCa Turkey, where she has been a volunteer for four years. Her adventure as a professional in hCa Turkey began with becoming a part of the organization team of New Tactics International Symposium. Her main tasks in the team were to coordinate a group of young volunteers working for the symposium, to organize the "resource center" at the symposium venue, and following the symposium, together with her colleagues, to create a post-symposium promo CD. Following the finalization of the NT Symposium, Didem continued to work in hCa Turkey in projects focusing on areas such as citizenship, democracy, freedom of association, youth, women's rights, refugees; and of course, new tactics in human rights struggle.

Didem still learns from and works in hCa Turkey, and will hopefully be enrolled in a Comparative Literature MA program in Istanbul in Fall 2007.

The Human Rights Education Program for Women in Turkey

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:08:18 -0500

The Human Rights Education Program for Women in Turkey

By Liz Ervecik Amado
Download full notebook in english and a brief summary of the notebook in Russian and Armenian below.

In this notebook we learn about how effective and beneficial building collaborative relationships with government institutions can be to advancing human rights education. Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR)-New Ways in Turkey gained the support and use of government resources for furthering human rights education of women at the local level.

WWHR-New Ways developed a highly successful human rights education curriculum for women but needed an accessible, structured and sustainable way to reach women in need of learning about their rights. They found and developed an excellent partnership through government run, local level community centers. These community centers offered not only professional social workers who could be trained by WWHR-New Ways in facilitating the human rights education curriculum, but also a safe and accessible place for women to learn about their rights. We hope this notebook will provide ideas and insights for others as they seek opportunities for building mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships with government bodies for furthering human rights efforts.

*Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files marked with an asterisk (*). You can download a free version of this program from www.adobe.com.

A Call to End Corruption

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:07:57 -0500

A Call to End Corruption

By Ezel Akay

Download full notebook below.

In this notebook, we read about how mass numbers of people – 30 million people – in Turkey turned off and on their lights to demand that the government act against corruption. Government corruption had been an open secret. Yet, the public felt apathetic about being able to change the situation. The Campaign of Darkness for Light gave people an easy and no-risk action everyone could take – simply turning off their lights at the same time each evening – and thus show their displeasure with the system. Such a simple action – a flick of the switch – and yet when people saw that their neighbors had turned off their lights, too, they felt the power of their collective voices and began to invent their own ways to speak out by gathering on the streets, marching and banging pots and pans. This deceptively simple tactic carried out in a mass numbers sent a powerful signal that the public was calling for an end to corruption in Turkey.

A "Crash Course" in Democracy Begins!

November 3, 1996. Western Turkey. After sunset, on an intercity highway near a roadside town called Susurluk. A dark green Mercedes is speeding from an Aegean resort town towards Istanbul. Inside are four people with a bag full of dollars, a trunk full of arms, ammunition and silencers, and pockets full of cocaine. They are coming home from a "business" trip. At the same time at a roadside gas station near Susurluk. A truck has just filled up its tank and heads off on a long journey home. It slowly eases its way onto the main road. The Mercedes arrives full-speed just as the body of the turning truck covers the road. Crash! For Turkey a "crash course" in democracy begins.

Three Months Later: The Hopeful Noise of 30 Million Citizens ... On February 1, 1997, at precisely 9 p.m., the lights started to go out in Istanbul and other Turkish 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. On February 3, again. 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. But it wasn’t enough for the citizens. As the action’s momentum grew, people needed more. They 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. The light show became an audio-visual extravaganza. 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 unspoken frustration of all of Turkey, hidden for so many years behind fear and apathy, was now out in the open and on the streets!

*Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files marked with an asterisk (*). You can download a free version of this program from www.adobe.com.