While unrest continues in Turkey, new demonstrations exceeding one million are sweeping Brazil. This moment compels us to reassess existing assumptions about the relative strength and ascendance of emerging nations, most of which face fundamental demographic, socio-historical, political and economic challenges.
Now the world can see that Ankara has been concealing large amounts of unrest and it is clear that Turkey was actually not a successful democracy model for Middle Eastern countries. Can Islam and democracy be practiced side by side?
By Susan Sarandon, Actress and Activist Freedom of expression is a right we have to value and protect, which is why I'm joining Amnesty to demand jus...
It's bad enough that the Obama administration has been so cynical and tight lipped on Erdogan's increasingly more anti-democratic tack of recent years, but for ten years the left has been pretty silent about the whittling away of secular and modern values in Turkey.
The protests that cannot be diminished by the words of the prime minister, the governor of Istanbul, or others, who simply called the protesters "terrorists." Nor can it be understood by simply comparing it to the Arab Spring.
If we want to have a solid and mature democracy we have to be ready for it. Turkey is an important country in the international arena and shouldn't try to go back to its old identity. We have been there already and now it is a new day.
I am certain most have heard - or heard of - this famous anti-war song of the '60s which was written and released first by Buffy Sainte-Marie and then...
If Gezi Park wasn't a wake up call that the old pattern of a military state with a controlled democracy is no longer wanted, it's hard to imagine what can cause Erdogan to arise. The old ways die hard in Turkey, indeed.
The protests represent the tipping point of the frustrations of the informed public with a government that has treated forests and historical buildings as private property, constructing luxury residences and shopping centers through contracts given to family and friends.
In both Turkey and Brazil, it has been the reckless brutality of the security forces -- captured on smartphones and broadcast to a whole world that's watching -- that has caused the protests to grow. Will the United States go down the same road?
They patted my upper leg area down, pulled out my fold-up umbrella from my back pocket (it was an Xmas gift), then found my camera in my other back pocket, bellowed at me to show pictures, then bellowed furiously, "Delete! DELETE QUICKLY!!"
Turks in the U.S. have a very unique place. It seems that we are the only ones who took out full-page ads in a national newspaper, the New York Times, to protest against Erdoğan, and we are the only ones who thought of organizing a demonstration in support of Erdoğan, too.
Despite the entire polarized image shown so far, I know Turkish people are wise enough to reunite around a common sense and get rid of these dark days.
He played from last night, Thursday, into this morning, Friday, here in embattled Taksim Square in Istanbul. His audience was mainly protesters with riot cops looking on.
Wandering around the barricades near Istanbul's Taksim Square, I kept asking myself, "How could a few 'occupiers' manage to mobilize millions here and beyond, in 77 provinces of Turkey and dozens of cities in the world?"
What Iran needs is not another critique of what's wrong, but a conversation among the people by the people about what would make it right. No Supreme Leaders, no Rule Makers, no Decision Makers, just people.