Erdem Gunduz (center) stands in silent protest on Taksim Square in Istanbul on June 18, staring up at an image of modern Turkey's founder, Kemal Ataturk.
Taksim Square's Last Man Standing
On the evening of June 17, for more than five hours, Erdem Gunduz stood motionless on Taksim Square. He simply stared at the portrait of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, that hangs outside the Ataturk Cultural Center in the capital.
The photo quickly went viral, and within hours #duranadam (Turkish for "standing man") and #standingman were trending on Twitter.
To see how the "standing man" protests and ensuing memes evolved, take a look at this Storify timeline by RFE/RL correspondent Glenn Kates:
Gunduz's simple stance inspired hundreds of others to join him in silent protest. However, as Reuters reported early on June 18, dozens of people who had joined Gunduz at the silent protest were arrested.
"I am just one protester, I'm just one artist. There are many artists and many, many young people on the streets. I am nothing but the idea is important, why people resist the government but the government didn't want to understand, didn't try to understand why people are on the streets [for] 19 days," the "standing man" told the BBC, calling his protest a "silent resistance."
Gunduz spent hours staring silently at an image of Kemal Ataturk.
Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist and social-media commentator covering the protests in Turkey, said on Twitter that the "standing man" protest had spread throughout Istanbul and other cities in several hours.
#Duranadam "standing man" protest spread in Istanbul & multiple cities without any TV or formal organization. Bet it will be repeated, too.
Reuters also confirmed that similar protests had spread through Istanbul, Ankara, and the city of Izmir.
Soon enough, however, savvy Twitter users had linked the two most prominent memes of the Turkish protests. So the penguin, which became a symbol of how local media missed the initial protest story, became a "standing penguin."
Protests arose in several cities across Turkey on May 28 over plans to redevelop Gezi Park, one of the few remaining green areas in Istanbul. Within days, authorities were cracking down and the protests grew into mass unrest.
The silent protest followed a weekend of heavy clashes between police and protesters on Taksim Square as the police tried to clear out demonstrators.
Meanwhile, thousands of people came out to support Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan kilometers away from the city center in Istanbul.
On June 17, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc warned that authorities might deploy the armed forces to help police disperse the protests.
-- Deana Kjuka
About This Blog
Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us attransmission+rferl.org
