The Guardian published an article by Can Oz devoted to the protest campaign in Turkey. "I am scared. With every speech that prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives, I feel the hatred and disgust against me and young people of my generation increase. All we are after is a bit of freedom, a bit of space to live and a few trees," the article begins.
"I am the owner of the biggest literary publishing house in the country. In the past few days I have received hate mail and death threats, just because I was publicly part of this passive resistance movement. After each speech Erdoğan gave, the language in these emails became more violent. Today, the lawyers who arrived at the main courthouse of Istanbul were beaten and arrested by the police. These were the lawyers who were there to defend the protesters who had been arrested," the author writes.
"I am scared, not for myself, but for my girlfriend, my mother, my sister, and for my country. It is quite clear at this point that Erdoğan's only way to cope with problems is to ratchet up aggression levels. If he continues to do so, I fear that this aggression will lead to a civil war in Turkey," the author believes.
