SIX
Operation Turkey
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“Right now, in more than 60 cities of the country, there are more than a hundred demonstrations, bringing together more than three million people. Three days ago, 700 people gathered to protest this, and police gassed them. Next day, 7,000 people gathered in the same square, and the police gassed them. And on Saturday, 700,000 people came together, and then the police fled.”
~~ Professor Koray Caliskan
Sunday - June 1, 2014 approx. 8:00 AM ET - Starbucks Montreal, Quebec - CANADA
In order to understand the street revolution in Turkey that began in Gezi Park, you have to understand the genesis - the cathartic moment that began a cascade of historic events that are still unfolding in Turkey even to this day. Not, perhaps the way everyone hoped or thought it might back when we pick up the tale of Anonymous Operation Turkey in 2014. And Anonymous was there from day one, thanks in part to an already very active domestic cell in country called Anonymous Turkey. One year ago today, to be exact - on June 1st of 2013, we started Anonymous Operation Turkey. I know, because I helped the Anons in Turkey launch the Op. It was a great honor that they asked me not only to help, but to assist in leading - this amazing Freedom Operation. And it all began, as the Lorax would say, with the trees....
The initial cause of the protests was the plan to remove Gezi Park, one of the few remaining green spaces in the center of the European side of Istanbul. The plan involved pedestrianising Taksim Square and rebuilding the Ottoman-era Taksim Military Barracks, which had been demolished in 1940. Development projects in Turkey involve "cultural preservation boards" which are supposed to be independent of the government, and in January such a board rejected the project as not serving the public interest. However a higher board overturned this on May 1st, in a move park activists said was influenced by the government. The ground floor of the rebuilt barracks was expected to house a shopping mall, and the upper floors luxury flats, although in response to the protests the likelihood of a shopping mall was downplayed, and the possibility of a museum raised. The main contractor for the project is the Kalyon Group, described in 2013 by the BBC as "a company which has close ties with the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party".
The Gezi Park protests began in April, having started with a petition in December 2012. The protests were renewed on May 27th, culminating in the creation of an encampment occupying the park. A raid on this encampment on May 29th prompted outrage and wider protests. Although Turkey has a history of police brutality, the attack on a peaceful sit-in by environmentalists was different enough to spur wider outrage than such previous incidents, developing into the largest protests in Turkey in decades. The large number of trees that were cut in the forests of northern Istanbul for the construction of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge (Third Bosphorus Bridge) and the new Recep Tayyip Erdoğan International Airport (the world's largest airport, with a capacity for 150 million passengers per year) were also influential in the public sensitivity for protecting Gezi Park. According to official Turkish government data, a total of 2,330,012 trees have been cut for constructing the Erdoğan Airport and its road connections; and a total of 381,096 trees have been cut for constructing the highway connections of the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge; reaching an overall total of 2,711,108 trees which were cut for the two projects.
A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on May 28, 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting the plan, where young activists had quite literally chained themselves to the trees in an effort to prevent them being cut down by construction crews. Subsequently, supporting protests and strikes took place across Turkey, protesting a wide range of concerns at the core of which were issues of freedom of the press, of expression, assembly, and the government's encroachment on Turkey's secularism. With no centralized leadership beyond the small assembly that organized the original environmental protest, the protests have been compared to the Occupy movement and the May 1968 events in the USA. As with all the previous Arab Spring street uprisings, social media played a key part in these protests - not least because much of the Turkish media downplayed the protests, particularly in the early stages.
Three and a half million people (out of Turkey's population of 80 million) are estimated to have taken an active part in almost 5,000 demonstrations across Turkey connected with the original Gezi Park protest. Eleven people were eventually killed, including one Anon, and more than eight-thousand were injured, many critically. The following is a timeline of the historic Gezi Park Uprising:
May 2013 On the morning of May 28th, around 50 environmentalists are camping out in Gezi Park in order to prevent its demolition. The protesters initially halt attempts to bulldoze the park by refusing to leave.
Police use tear gas to disperse the peaceful protesters and burn down their tents in order to allow the bulldozing to continue. Photos of the scene, such as an image of a young female protester (later nicknamed the "woman in red") holding her ground while being sprayed by a policeman, quickly spread throughout the world media. The Washington Post reports that the image "encapsulates Turkey's protests and the severe police crackdown", while Reuters calls the image an "iconic leitmotif".
The size of the protests grows
Police raid the protesters' encampments. Online activists' calls for support against the police crackdown increase the number of sit-in protesters by the evening.
Police carry out another raid on the encampment in the early morning of May 31, using water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters to surrounding areas and setting up barricades around the park to prevent re-occupation. Throughout the day, the police continue to fire tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at demonstrators, resulting in reports of more than 100 injuries. MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder and journalist Ahmet Şık were hospitalized after being hit by tear gas canisters.
The executive order regarding the process decided earlier had been declared as "on-hold".
10,000 gather in Istiklal Avenue. According to Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, 63 people are arrested and detained. Police use of tear gas is criticized for being "indiscriminate". The interior minister, Muammer Guler, says the claims of the use of disproportionate force would be investigated.
2013 June Heavy clashes between protesters and police continue until early morning around İstiklal Avenue. Meantime, around 5,000 people gather at the Asian side of İstanbul and march through Kadıköy Bağdat Avenue. Around 1,000 people continue to march towards the European side and they cross the Bosphorus Bridge on foot. Protesters reach Beşiktaş in the morning and police disperse them with tear gas.
Clashes continue throughout the day. Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu announce that they will move their planned rally to Taksim Square instead of Kadıköy. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he has approved that decision. Around 15:45 police forces retreat from Taksim Square. Thousands of protesters gather at Gezi Park and Taksim Square.
Protester Ethem Sarısülük gets shot in the head by a riot policeman during the protests at Ankara Kizilay Square. He dies 14 days later due to his injuries.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan describes the protesters as "a few looters" in a televised interview. He also criticizes social media, calling Twitter a "menace" and an "extreme version of lying".
At night, police forces try to disperse protesters gathered in the Beşiktaş district. Clashes between police and protesters continue until next morning. Beşiktaş football team supporter group Çarşı members hijack a bulldozer and chase police vehicles.
Front side of AKM (Atatürk Cultural Center) building at Taksim Square gets covered with banners.
In Ankara, police tries to disperse thousands of protesters who are attempting to march on the prime minister's office there.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to reporters at the airport before leaving for a three-day trip to North Africa. He threatens the protesters saying "We are barely holding the 50 percent (that voted for us) at home".
Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc offers an apology to protesters.
June 22 year Abdullah Cömert dies after being hit in the head by tear gas canister during the protests at Hatay.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to his supporters outside of İstanbul Atatürk Airport on his return from a four-day trip to North Africa. Erdoğan blames "interest rate lobbies" claiming they are behind Gezi protests. His supporters chant "Give us the way, we will crush Taksim Square".
Riot police forces enter Taksim Square early in the morning. They make announcements that they will not be entering Gezi Park and their mission is to open Taksim Square to traffic again. Most protesters gather at Gezi Park, but a small group carrying banners of the Socialist Democracy Party retaliate using molotov cocktails and slingshots. Some people like Luke Harding from The Guardian claims that undercover police threw molotov cocktails, "staging a not very plausible 'attack' on their own for the benefit of the cameras". These claims were rejected by the governor of Istanbul, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu.
After police tries to enter Gezi park, clashes continue throughout the night and CNN International makes an eight-hour live coverage. Pro-government media accuses CNN and Christiane Amanpour of deliberately showing Turkey in a state of civil war.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a meeting with the members of Taksim Solidarity in Ankara. When a member says that those protests have a sociological aspect, he gets angry and leaves the meeting saying "We are not going to learn what sociology is from you!".
Justice and Development Party party organizes a mass rally called "Respect to National Will" in Ankara. Talking at the rally, PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says that "If protesters don't move out of Gezi Park, police forces will intervene".
At about 17:30, Police forces begin making announcments to protesters telling to leave Gezi Park. Police forces make an assault about 20:50 and clear Gezi Park. Protesters move to areas around İstiklal Street and clash with police.
Meanwhile, about 5,000 protesters gather at the Asian side of İstanbul and begin marching towards the European side. Riot police forces disperse the protesters with tear gas before reaching the Bosphorus Bridge.
Heavy clashes between police and protesters continue until morning at various parts of İstanbul.
Justice and Development Party organizes its second rally at İstanbul Kazlıçeşme Square.
A general strike and protests organized by five trade unions take place in almost every part of Turkey. Strikes doesn't have any negative effect on the daily life which led criticism of unions and their power.
The "Standing Man", Erdem Gündüz starts his silent protest in the evening. Similar protests consisting of simply stopping and standing still spread everywhere in Turkey.
President Abdullah Gül announces suspension of Gezi Park redevelopment plans.
An investigation regarding police brutality is opened and some officers dismissed
Violence and mass demonstrations spread again in the country, after police attacks on thousands of protesters who threw carnations at them and called for brotherhood. Mass demonstrations occur again in Taksim Square, Istanbul and also in Güvenpark and Dikmen in Ankara to protest against the release of police officer Ahmet Şahbaz who fatally shot Ethem Sarısuluk in the head, as well as against events in Lice, Diyarbakır and Cizre, Şırnak. Riot police suppress the protesters partially with plastic bullets and some tear gas bombs and some protesters are detained. There is also a major police intervention in Ankara. The Istanbul LGBT Pride 2013 parade at Taksim Square attracts almost 100,000 people.
Participants were joined by Gezi Park protesters, making the 2013 Istanbul Pride the biggest pride ever held in Turkey and eastern Europe. The European Union praises Turkey that the parade went ahead without disruption.
July 2013 A machete-wielding man attacks the Gezi Park protesters at Taksim Square. He is detained by the police, but gets released the same day. After being released, he flees to Morocco on 10 July.
Thousands of people stage the "1st Gas Man Festival" (1. Gazdanadam Festivali) in Kadıköy to protest against the police crackdown on anti-government and nature-supporting demonstrations across the country. With the arrival of Ramadan, protesters in Istanbul hold mass iftar (the ceremonial meal breaking the daily fast) for all comers. 19-year-old Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who was in a coma since 4 June dies. He was severely battened by a group of casually dressed people on June 3rd while running away from police intervention.
2013 August The scale and frequency of demonstrations die down in the summer. Human chains are organized for peace and against intervention in Syria. Protesters begin painting steps in rainbow colors.
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The sit-in at Taksim Gezi Park was restored after police withdrew from Taksim Square on June 1st, and developed into an Occupy-like camp, with thousands of protesters in tents, organizing a library, medical center, food distribution, and their own media. This was the day that Anonymous Operation Turkey was launched, with the usual video and Press Release:
Anonymous Operation Turkey - Press Release
Saturday - June 1, 2013 10:30 PM ET USA
Greetings World --
We are Anonymous. And we have watched for days with horror as our brothers and sisters in Turkey who are peacefully rising up against their tyrannical government have been brutalized, beaten, run over with riot vehicles, shot with water cannons and gassed in the streets. From the epicenter of their revolution in Taksim Square to every city in Turkey, the people have risen. Hundreds of thousands have taken and held the streets for days, despite the relentless assault of the police. Thousands have been arrested.
Turkey is supposed to be a so called "modern" democracy, but the Turkish government behaves like the petty dictators in China or Iran. Anonymous is outraged by this behavior, and we will unite across the globe and bring the Turkish government to its knees. We will attack every internet and communications asset of the Turkish government. You have censored social media and other communications of your people in order to suppress the knowledge of your crimes against them. Now Anonymous will shut you down, and your own people will remove you from power. Let the "Turkish Summer" begin!
We Are Anonymous
We Are Everywhere
We Are Legion
We Do Not Forgive
We Do Not Forget
Government of Turkey, it is too late to EXPECT US
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Anonymous Op Turkey Website - www.OperationTurkey.tk
Anonymous Op Turkey Video - https://vimeo.com/213856218
Anonymous Turkey - anonsturkey.blogspot.de
Anonymous Global - www.AnonymousGlobal.org
Legion Security- www.LegionSecurity.cf
RedHack - redhack.tumblr.com
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After the Gezi Park camp was cleared by riot police on June 15th, protesters began to meet in other parks all around Turkey and organized public forums to discuss ways forward for the protests. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed the protesters as "a few looters" on June 2nd. Police suppressed the protests with tear gas and water cannons. In addition to the 11 deaths and over 8,000 injuries, more than 3,000 arrests were made. Excessive use of force by police and the overall absence of government dialogue with the protesters was criticized by some foreign countries and international organizations.
The range of the protesters was described as being broad, encompassing both right- and left-wing individuals.
Their complaints ranged from the original local environmental concerns to such issues as the authoritarianism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, curbs on alcohol, a recent row about kissing in public, and the war in Syria. Protesters called themselves çapulcu (looters), reappropriating Erdoğan's insult for themselves (and coined the derivative "chapulling", given the meaning of "fighting for your rights"). Many users on Twitter also changed their screen name and used çapulcu instead. According to various analysts, the protests are the most challenging events for Erdoğan's ten-year term and the most significant nationwide disquiet in decades.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has governed since 2002, winning the 2002, 2007 and 2011 elections by large margins. Under its rule the economy of Turkey recovered from the 2001 financial crisis and recession, driven in particular by a construction boom. At the same time, particularly since 2011, it has been accused of driving forward an Islamist agenda, having undermined the secularist influence of the Turkish Army. During the same period it also increased a range of restrictions on human rights, most notably freedom of speech and freedom of the press, despite improvements resulting from the accession process to the European Union.
Since 2011, the AKP has increased restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, Internet use, television content, and the right to free assembly. It has also developed links with Turkish media groups, and used administrative and legal measures (including, in one case, a $2.5 billion tax fine) against critical media groups and journalists: "over the last decade the AKP has built an informal, powerful, coalition of party-affiliated businessmen and media outlets whose livelihoods depend on the political order that Erdoğan is constructing. Those who resist do so at their own risk". The government has been seen by certain constituencies as increasingly Islamist and authoritarian, An education reform strengthening Islamic elements and courses in public primary and high schools was approved by the parliament in 2012, with Erdoğan saying that he wanted to foster a "pious generation". The sale and consumption of alcohol in university campuses has been banned. People have been given jail sentences for blasphemy.
While construction in Turkey has boomed and has been a major driver for the economy, this has involved little to no local consultation. For example, major construction projects in Istanbul have been "opposed by widespread coalitions of diverse interests. Yet in every case, the government has run roughshod over the projects' opponents in a dismissive manner, asserting that anyone who does not like what is taking place should remember how popular the AKP has been when elections roll around." Corruption concerns have also been raised, particularly relating to the Kanal İstanbul. Environmental issues, especially since the 2010 decision of the government to build additional nuclear power plants and the third bridge, led to continued demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara. The Black Sea Region has seen dozens of protests against the construction of waste-dumps, nuclear and coal power plants, mines, factories and hydroelectric dams. 24 local musicians and activists in 2012 created a video entitled "Diren Karadeniz" ("Resist, Black Sea"), which prefigured the ubiquitous Gezi Park slogan "Diren Gezi".
The government's stance on the civil war in Syria is another cause of social tension in the country. Controversy within progressive communities has been sparked by plans to turn Turkey's former Christian Hagia Sophia churches (now museums) in Trabzon and possibly Istanbul into mosques, a plan which failed to gain the support of prominent Muslim leaders from Trabzon. In 2012 and 2013, structural weaknesses in Turkey's economy were becoming more apparent. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2012 from 8.8% in 2011 to 2.2% in 2012 and forecasts for 2013 were below trend. Unemployment remained high at at least 9% and the current account deficit was growing to over 6% of GDP. A key issue Erdoğan campaigned for prior to the 2011 election was to rewrite the military-written constitution from 1982. Key amongst Erdoğan's demands were for Turkey to transform the role of President from that of a ceremonial role to an executive presidential republic with emboldened powers and for him to be elected president in the 2014 presidential elections. To submit such proposals to a referendum needs 330 out of 550 votes in the Grand National Assembly and to approve without referendum by parliament requires 367 out of 550 votes (a two-thirds majority) - The AKP currently holds only 326 seats. As such the constitutional commission requires agreement from opposition parties, namely the CHP, MHP and BDP who have largely objected to such proposals. Moreover, the constitutional courts have ruled that current President Abdullah Gül is permitted to run for the 2014 elections, who is widely rumored to have increasingly tense relations and competition with Erdoğan. Furthermore, many members of parliament in the governing AKP have internally also objected by arguing that the current presidential system suffices. Erdoğan himself is currently barred from running for a fourth term as prime minister in the 2015 general elections due to current AKP by-laws, largely sparking accusations from the public that Erdoğan's proposals were stated in light of him only intending to prolong his rule as the most dominant figure in politics. The constitutional proposals have mostly so far been delayed in deliberations or lacked any broad agreement for reforms, but they were finally passed in their entirety in 2017 as this book goes to print.
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One of the most historic things to come from Anonymous Operation Turkey in my opinion was an alliance formed between my Crew, Anonymous, and a fifteen year old hacktivist Crew from Turkey called RedHack. There is a documentary with English subtitles floating around the Internet, and I can not suggest highly enough that the reader check it out. Founded in 1995, they were contemporary with the PLF/Legion Sec and predated Anonymous by a decade. These hackers were serious business, and an original part of the Hacker Undrground.
RedHack (Kızıl Hackerlar or Kızıl Hackerlar Birliği), is a Turkish Marxist-Leninst computer hacker group founded in 1995. The group has claimed responsibility for hacking institutions which include the Council of Higher Education, Turkish police forces, the Turkish Army, Türk Telekom, and the National Intelligence Organization and many other websites. The group's core membership is said to number twelve; the leader's pseudonym is MaNYaK. RedHack is the first hacker group which has been accused of being a terrorist organization and is currently one of the world's most wanted hacker groups.
In their 25 years of operation, the hacktivist group RedHack has pulled off many high-profile strikes, such as leaking documents from Turkish National Police, penetrating the Turkish army’s Commando Brigade, wiping out electricity bills in protest of a power plant, and defacing milk companies that delivered tainted milk in primary schools. But most of their activities go unreported in Turkey’s censored media, which aims to hide the government corruption and incapacity RedHack often reveals. In an epic online meeting this past winter at OpNoPro's house, he bore witness to the formation of an alliance facilitated by my Crew between RedHack and Anonymous. In 2016 RedHack gave the Daily Dot an extensive interview. A brief excerpt from that interview can be useful in revealing RedHack's general philosophy, especially as it relates to other elements in the Hacker Underground.
Daily Dot: Why did you hack Berat Albayrak’s email accounts? Why him in particular?
RedHack: We were tracking Berat Albayrak for some time. He was our target because we believed that he maintained the dirty relationships of the party in power, especially with his career that spans from his education inside the Gülen Movement to his rise within Turkey’s Justice and Development Party [formerly led by Erdoğan, known by its Turkish acronym, AKP].
Daily Dot: There is the fact that Turkey’s Energy Ministry was using U.S.-based companies’ email services, without encryption on emails or sensitive documents, and that NSA and U.S. courts could access this information. What sort of security failures do these point out?
RedHack: This is very important. We noticed the same when we hacked Minister of Interior, Muammer Güler, previously. A lot can be said about the practice of keeping all the secret correspondence of the government, also the links of the corrupted network that they themselves are in, over U.S.-based means of communication. But let us summarize in one word: “incapacity.”
From the email correspondences, and our ‘visits’ to his computers, we can say that if there would be a merit-based appointment system in Turkey, even the President would not be trusted with a light switch; they would probably leave the lights on all night.
Daily Dot: How would you define your own acts? Do you agree that they are illegal, or do you think they are legitimate because they are political?
RedHack: Certainly we are not bound by the laws of thieves, murderers and fascists who burned people in basements.
[Note: This refers to the ‘Cizre Massacre’]. We do not care about the decrees they issue about us, we do not even take Erdoğan and his security forces seriously. Public interest and the history of the revolutionary struggle provide legitimacy to our actions. Let us also add this: While we try to do our best with our acts and our statements, sometimes this does not happen. But the people should not doubt our aims and the faith we have for the struggle.
There are other active hacker groups, some nationalists, others closer to the government. At times, they perform hacks of political nature as well, such as recent examples of attacks to pro-Kurdish party, Peoples’ Democratic Party [known by its Turkish acronym, HDP], leaking their private conversations. Do you find this legitimate?
While these acts would be considered political, they are never legitimate. The groups you mentioned have switched sides; even their friends question their legitimacy now. We find it a waste of time to talk about them.
Daily Dot: After your ultimatum to the government, were you hopeful that dissidents would be released, or did you make that statement to draw attention to their case?
RedHack: Of course we try to raise public awareness against the attacks of fascists; and we can say we are at least partially successful in this. Right on this point, the difference between hacking and hacktivism becomes visible. We are hacktivists!
Let’s build propositions on the philosophy of hactivism; one can say that hacktivist actions have not only a political meaning, but also that they are the voice of the oppressed and the excluded. This is what defines the hactivist character of the RedHack. We are actually not hackers, we are hacktivists!
Daily Dot: The Twitter accounts that you used to announce your actions are suspended by Twitter. It is against the rules of Twitter to share personal information, but Twitter did not suspend other accounts of a similar political nature, including WikiLeaks, Guccifer 2.0, TheCthulhu and Phineas Fisher. Do you think Twitter’s censorship is also political, do you think Turkey pressures the company to censor you?
RedHack: All social media companies and all spaces of information sharing, including Twitter, are owned by the hegemons. Their understanding of freedom is not defined by the truth, but is limited by the threats to their hegemony. Let alone personal data, Twitter allows ISIS members who behead people, and pedophiles, too. We do not expect Twitter to let this corrupt network to be revealed as such. But we trust upon the opposition journalists whose principles are based on liberty and facts. Being among their readers, we are certain that they will not mislead us, they never did.
Daily Dot: Why did you limit access to Albayrak’s email archive only to the journalists, initially?
RedHack: We have conducted similar hacks before. We are Socialists, and our acts can only serve as the tools of a political struggle. Sometimes we hear so many people saying “Release it all! Are you bargaining with them? Why don’t you release all the information?”
We have seen all of the immoral and crooked relations that these people in power have built upon. But we are not paparazzi. We are Marxists who put up a struggle in a Leninist organizational structure. In the emails, there could be content of private sort, but we cannot release those for the tabloids. When we filter out all such material, we will release the whole archive to the public for our strong belief in the freedom of information, and publi