Istanbul Prepares for Obama with Protests

Yesterday was certainly an interesting day. I walked up the hill from my flat to Dolapdere where it all started, watching the preparations for the police parade here in Istanbul, which I mistook for Obama's arrival. It was an interesting thing to watch and there are about a dozen photos of the parade in the gallery.

After that I had breakfast, met a cute little girl, saw a shoe shine man, and walked to Taksim where I saw lots of kids playing with the pigeons.

And then I heard chants and shouts of "Obama!" followed by "Amrika" and the rest I couldn't translate, not having more than two dozen Turkish words in my vocabulary. Based on this article by the AP they were chanting "Obama, Go Home!"

I pushed my way inside the circle of people who gathered around the protesters (there weren't but about 100, if that many) and took some shots. One thing to remember is these aren't burka clad women or uber-Islamic men. By the looks of the people (including the Grandmother all the photographers were trying to get at -- I think there were more photographers than protesters and I knocked an asshole American photographer on the ground by using my big ass) all were middle, upper-middle class, well-educated Turks.

(Interesting side-note: take a look at the 'little old lady' in this photo (click on photos to magnify) by the AP photographer and then look at this one, taken by yours truly.)

After the ringleader ended his harangue I pushed my way into the crowd and asked him a few questions.

"Why are you protesting," I shouted into his ear, trying to be heard above the din of "Obama, go home" chants.

"Obama is an imperialist bastard," he said.

"Could you be more specific," I asked?

"He wants to give a part of Turkey to the damned Kurds, carving up our country just like the Anglezi did after WWI," he shouted back.

"He does," I asked incredulously, "when did he say that?"

"I don't have time to talk to you," he said, clearly miffed at my impertinent follow up question. So much for my interviewing talents. I'm sure Larry King still has a job.

After that I strolled down Istiklal Caddesi, took some photos of the thousands of shoppers and strollers there and around the Beyoglu area and returned home to do the wash. Yes, I have a lot of dirty clothes, still.

The weather was fantastic, if a bit chilly--about 55*F--and I've obviously put off my long walk for a few days. But the photos, the color and light came out pretty damn well, in my opinion.

I hope to try and catch up with Obama as he tours the city later tomorrow.

Comments

[Jaid]

The hate for this new President is over the top. I love the new President! He is intelligent, Insightful, a thinker and possesses great humility. He is not perfect, but I did not vote for perfect just someone with intellect, leadership, and capacity to hear the American voters desire to return to the world stage as a respected entity. After just 78 days in the office President Obama has delivered overtime on all of these aspects and then some. When you are used to trash, it can sometimes be difficult to embrace character, class, style and content. President Obama is a breath of fresh air!

[karela]

It was good to finally hear just exactly how many Obama protesters showed up----less than a hundred. That is a very small contingent in a very populous country and yet it gets generous news coverage without stressing how small it is. The same happened with the protesters in Britain. Those two guys that threw the thing through the bank window were surrounded by over a hundred photographers and the protesters there were relatively few too. If there hadn't been several photographers for every protester, there probably would have been even fewer protesters. In fact, by cross referencing articles, we can see that there were many more photographers at the British protest than there were protesters at the Turkish one. The massive crowds of people in some of the photographs here weren't part of any protest----they were out for a stroll and a shop, according to the article here. I'd say Obama's first trip to a Muslim country went quite well.

[CabaretArtist]

Everybody just chill out! Dang! It takes time to bring about changes. Just think of your own lives and how things have to be taken in steps. I think this post just demonstrates that worldwide, Shrub has pretty much destroyed the reputation of America. Not at all surprising that America is disliked and by extension its President.

Things are getting done. This is just ridiculous that patience seems to be alluding many of the voters who voted for CHANGE. America is big baby. It's going to take a lot of hands and coordination to CHANGE the stinky, 8-year-old diaper that Shrub left on the Country.

PEACE ON THE PLANET and One Day At A Time

[Jonni Rae]

A town hall? I have security issues.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

People in Turkey are just as ignorant people are here.

[wiredash]

Can an American Prez be universally liked given the sordid history of US foreign policy?

This townhall event would be an interesting challenge for Obama. Audacity of hope confronted by the omnipresence of cynicism....

[mikey2]

Seems our U.S. consies have been spreading a bunch of baseless rumors in Turkey as well. Has Rep. Bachman made a trip there recently?

[mjc]

Interesting comments on Turkish history. The "grandmother" (and I'm unsure how you know she is a grandmother, not just an older woman) probably knows more about the historical aspects of the resentment against Turkey, the Kurdish problems, and the Armenian massacres than the young people around her. In fact, she probably knows more about those problems than 99% of any American crowd. Even though historians are supposed to know about such major events as the first "final solution" of Armenians, very few do and it is not widely taught either, even in graduate school. I learned about it from friends in Rochester, NY; Harry taught history at the Univ of Rochester in the late 60s. Surprised that Barack Obama had heard of it, but perhaps he came across survivors or ancestors of survivors. Many immigrants to this country came from that region because of that hate.

[Sean-Paul Kelley - Huffpost Blogger]

In this part of the world the appellation "grandmother" is much more polite than "old lady" or even "little old lady." Hence the title of the photograph.

As for the Armenia Genocide, let me recommend two solid books that cover the subject, first, by William Dalrymple: "From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East." and Samantha Powers' excellent "A Problem from Hell," which discusses American policy reactions to Genocide in the 20th Century. Both are excellent, although Dalrymple's book is an easier, more fascinating read.

[mcantwell]

I enjoyed your photos. Thanks.

[BarackstarObama]

President Obama's town hall on Tuesday will be amazing.

[BeeOplentee]

The Turks are noted for being tough and shrewed. They can see through an empty suit when it lands on the tarmac.

[BarackstarObama]

Maybe, but President Obama is a completely full suit.

[Brillig]

That is exactly why they did not have time for Bush.