Bassam Gergi co-authors article on Taksim Square protests

Bassam Gergi, Dahrendorf Scholar at St. Antonys College, Oxford, has co-authored an opinion piece in The Huffington Post (6 July) entitled Taking back the square with Ali Breland, a student from the University of Texas in Austin.

They write, As the battles in Istanbuls central Taksim Square, and across Turkey continue to grow, it is clear that what began as a relatively isolated protest intended to stop the demolition of trees and halt the construction of a shopping center has far deeper roots.

The images of Turkish protesters waving flags, carrying banners, chanting slogans, all while facing down water cannons, pepper spray and riot police are eerily familiar. Just over two years ago we watched these same scenes unfold, first in Tunisia, then Egypt, then Libya, with the tactics and symbols spreading to protests as varied as the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement in the United States to the student led civil movements in Chile and Spain.

The full article can be read here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-breland/taking-back-the-square_b_3401922.html?utm_hp_ref=college&ir=College