WA wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 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. 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, expression, and assembly, as well as the Islamist government's erosion of Turkey's secularism. With no centralised 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. Social media played a key part in the protests, not least because much of the Turkish media downplayed the protests, particularly in the early stages. Three and a half million people are estimated to have taken an active part in almost 5,000 demonstrations across Turkey connected with the original Gezi Park protest. Twenty-two people were killed and more than 8,000 were injured, many critically.
WBackward Run is a 2013 Turkish animated short film written and directed by Ayçe Kartal.
WChapulling is a neologism originating in the Gezi Park protests, coined from Prime Minister Erdoğan's use of the term çapulcu to describe the protesters. Pronounced // in Turkish, çapulcu was rapidly reappropriated by the protesters, both in its original form and as the anglicized chapuller and additionally verbified chapulling, given the meaning of "fighting for your rights". Chapulling has been used in Turkish both in its anglicized form and in the hybrid word form çapuling.
WBerkin Elvan was a 15-year-old Kurdish–Turkish boy who was hit on the head by a tear-gas canister fired by a police officer in Istanbul during the June 2013 anti-government protests in Turkey. He died on March 11, 2014, following a 269-day coma. Lawyers representing the family said Elvan's condition worsened over the last week of his life, with his weight dropping to 16 kg from 45 kg. Widespread demonstrations erupted following Berkin's death.
WThe Gezi Party was an environmentalist political party in Turkey founded on 1 October 2013 and became defunct as of 23 October 2017. The party was named after 2013 protests in Turkey, since the protests usually named as "Gezi Protests" in Turkish media. The founder Reşit Cem Köksal is an ex-heavy metal guitarist from İstanbul.
WBarbaros Şansal is a Turkish fashion designer and activist.
WTaksim Gezi Park is an urban park next to Taksim Square, in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district It is one of the last green spaces in Beyoğlu and one of the smallest parks of Istanbul. In May 2013, plans to replace the park with a reconstruction of the former Taksim Military Barracks intended to house a shopping mall sparked the nationwide 2013 protests in Turkey.