> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Parks, patriarchy and propaganda: May 27– June 2 on openDemocracy - URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/parks-patriarchy-and-propaganda-may-27-june-2-on-opendemocracy/ - Published: 2013-02-06T00:02:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-04-23T01:22:36.000Z - Description: What started as a protest to protect a green space with a few trees in Istanbul met a brutal police response and grew to become much more. Celam Burak Tansel and Gulay Turkmen-Dervisoglu explain the situation, John McSweeney tells us this isonly the beginning, Dimitar Bechev adds perspective on wh - Author: openDemocracy Supporters - Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:27, #appended-excerpt **What started as a protest to protect a green space with a few trees in Istanbul** met a brutal police response and grew to become much more. [Celam Burak Tansel](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/e991335160&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Gulay Turkmen-Dervisoglu](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/5b336ae312&ref=opendemocracy.net) explain the situation, John McSweeney tells us this is[only the beginning](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/fd4cbee0f6&ref=opendemocracy.net), Dimitar Bechev adds perspective on what he calls [a people-power tide](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/0813e1d520&ref=opendemocracy.net) and Charles Turner looks at [PM Erdoğan’s character](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/dd3238cb41&ref=opendemocracy.net). We also bring [a statement from the Müştereklerimiz network](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/cad6526608&ref=opendemocracy.net), which has been involved in the protests since the beginning, and [an open letter](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/bc9bb940e7&ref=opendemocracy.net) from five Turkish citizens living in London. More than a hundred women peace activists, policy makers and scholars from around the world have met in Belfast with six women Nobel Peace Prize laureates to analyse and strategise. Commissioning Editors [Jennifer Allsopp](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/f76f3c3c13&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Heather McRobie](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/2de648474d&ref=opendemocracy.net), plus speakers at the **Nobel Women's Initiative conference** on[Beyond militarism and war: women-driven solutions for a nonviolent violent world](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/38484dc979&ref=opendemocracy.net) have been [writing](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/31f2e556ab&ref=opendemocracy.net) this up for 50.50. We publish [Shirin Ebadi](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/79e699a3f4&ref=opendemocracy.net) **on what makes a democracy**; [Valerie Hudson](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/d6b40ab51e&ref=opendemocracy.net) on her book, *Sex and World Peace*; [Colonel Ann Wright](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/865ca50b8d&ref=opendemocracy.net)on protesting the US’ war policies; [Amina Mama](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/20ecc77c34&ref=opendemocracy.net) on challenging militarized masculinities - plus authors examining [patriarchy and militarism](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/9e91d8a3d7&ref=opendemocracy.net), [peacebuilding and the nation-state](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/c30fc5e7e4&ref=opendemocracy.net), how to build a[culture of peace](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/b81ebd6975&ref=opendemocracy.net), alongside many [other themes](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/bc9ff34ff1&ref=opendemocracy.net). Daniel Levy and Julien Barnes-Dacey call on the west to [use Geneva2 to de-escalate the Syrian conflict](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/b3c4d3b6b2&ref=opendemocracy.net), and Peter Oborne and David Morrison issue [a challenge](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/d89b2be606&ref=opendemocracy.net) to US and UK politicians and media: stop inventing **myths about Iran which are designed to ramp up conflict**, after [the falsehoods on Iraq](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/00b90632f2&ref=opendemocracy.net) which David Owen reminds us of. Mona Sheikh has a similar [warning](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/de6b69d105&ref=opendemocracy.net) on **the impact of US interests on Pakistan**. [Saeed Rahnema](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/7b5788ff07&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Moritz Pieper](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/6c1bcff6e0&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Salam Kawakibi](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/74be179c4d&ref=opendemocracy.net)remind us of the nature of these regimes, while Paul Rogers predicts [an unpredictable future for Israel](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/e772cd758b&ref=opendemocracy.net), and Ahmad Khalidi contributes a [comprehensive account of the shifting map of the Middle East](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/735aeec8c7&ref=opendemocracy.net). Also on misrepresentation, [Srećko Horvat](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/f6813b664c&ref=opendemocracy.net), who hosted Slavoj Žižek and Syriza’s leader in his Subversive Forum, explains the reception of this event against a Golden Dawn background.[Othon Anastasakis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/9ffedcdf1b&ref=opendemocracy.net) interrogates the theory of **the two extremes of populism** and [Jon Wiltshire](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/05c985c510&ref=opendemocracy.net) looks into Greece’s economic growth, while [Eleftheria Lekakis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/4a77a9a943&ref=opendemocracy.net) conveys what fascism feels like to its critical publics. [Ireland gives us a new slant](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/84361e43a6&ref=opendemocracy.net) on Brexit. In a fine series investigating the nation-state, [Marc Farrant](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/b0fcf8db01&ref=opendemocracy.net) looks at ‘time’, [Dylan Hewitt-Page](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/accafb4176&ref=opendemocracy.net) at technology, and [David Goodhart](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/910cd31942&ref=opendemocracy.net) tells us the British version is in rude health, while [Deborah Padfield](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/755cfc53c3&ref=opendemocracy.net) sees the holes in the fabric, [Michael Skey](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/8e6e9817cb&ref=opendemocracy.net) checks out UKIP, and [Colin Grant](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/6ee30c95eb&ref=opendemocracy.net), the EDL. [Euan Grant](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/97bcb06b69&ref=opendemocracy.net) tells us **why Russians love London**, and [Vladimir Pribylovsky](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/d881d93773&ref=opendemocracy.net) gives us a tour of the Russian clans. **Don’t miss:** - Alexis Tsipras and Slavoj Žižek on [the role of the European left](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/562011b6e8/v=aUh96oXYt18&ref=opendemocracy.net) - Democracy Now on [A Turkish Spring?](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/27d4a827e3&ref=opendemocracy.net) - [Syria – the imperative of de-escalation](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/c7a679a1de&ref=opendemocracy.net) – the full report - Dan Hind on [Bradley Manning and enlightenment](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/0a8eb35627&ref=opendemocracy.net) **openDemocracy’s week in 1 minute is emailed to Members, Friends and authors who help pay for and create our great content. Please forward this to any contact you think might be interested and** [**want to join**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/288d11ce6a/openDemocracy/bb28beb484/946f39415f/51634b1085/openDemocracy/d4022f1a75/TEST/e64101092e&ref=opendemocracy.net) **or email us (**[**supporters@opendemocracy.net**](mailto:supporters@opendemocracy.net)**).** **What started as a protest to protect a green space with a few trees in Istanbul** met a brutal police response and grew to become much more. [Celam Burak Tansel](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/e991335160&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Gulay Turkmen-Dervisoglu](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/5b336ae312&ref=opendemocracy.net) explain the situation, John McSweeney tells us this is[only the beginning](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/fd4cbee0f6&ref=opendemocracy.net), Dimitar Bechev adds perspective on what he calls [a people-power tide](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/0813e1d520&ref=opendemocracy.net) and Charles Turner looks at [PM Erdoğan’s character](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/dd3238cb41&ref=opendemocracy.net). We also bring [a statement from the Müştereklerimiz network](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/cad6526608&ref=opendemocracy.net), which has been involved in the protests since the beginning, and [an open letter](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/387a5d7544/7262321cfa/bc9bb940e7&ref=opendemocracy.net) from five Turkish citizens living in London.