The 22nd Day in #OccupyTurkey. Gov’t planning to legally restrict social media, around 50 early morning detainings…

by Eric Sass

There?s a long and inglorious history of authoritarian governments targeting vaguely-defined ?provocateurs? for exercising their right to free speech. If someone has a complaint or disagrees with the government?s policies, you see, they are clearly out to make trouble and are probably either the paid agents or unwitting dupes of malevolent forces inside and outside the country.   It?s usual enough to hear this sort of nonsense from, say, North Korea or the former Soviet Union (other popular favorites from the Golden Cold War era were ?saboteurs,? ?wreckers,? and my personal favorite, ?capitalist running dogs?) ? or modern Russia for that matter. But it?s profoundly discouraging to hear it from the government of Turkey, a democracy which is however showing undeniable signs of creeping authoritarianism.

A standing woman who stands at the place where Ethem Özsülük was killed.