An eyewitness to the birth of a consolidated Turkish democacry

Surrealism is a good word to describe what one experiences in Cihangir in the center of European Istanbul near Taksim Square. The tension is palpable, the air heavy with humidity. People having their usual conversations in cafes with their thoughts on how their life's have fundamentally changed since 31 May. Strangers are walking up and down the streets ready to partake in the protests that will follow later with their gas masks (the choice is infinite both in terms of type and color) and their goggles to protect their eyes from the pepper gas and other such niceties we will all have to deal with later and into the night. Others still are carrying various types of supposedly protective head gear...so many days of this has made both protesters and those simply standing by better prepared to deal with the onslaught or so we think.... The sounds of helicopters making their reconnaissance flights are heard overhead. The streets are slowly filling up and now the now the air is inundated with tear gas....throats are getting parched, eyes are becoming watery and the anger is rising...I am not looking forward to what is to happen next today but I also understand it....democracy is at work in its more violent form these days in Turkey....after the protests die down, one can only hope that it will have moved society forward and made the political elite more accountable.

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