The Revolution Will Be Tweeted

It started with a message from a fan in Istanbul. He asked if it was possible for to shout out to the protesters there. What protesters?

I hadn't even known what was going on; few in the US did. There had been barely any coverage from Western media.

At that point, the only source of information was the very platform through which I'd received this message: Twitter. A Hashtag, #OccupyGezi, linked photos, videos and comments directly from the sight of the protests, as well as the few news articles that were starting to trickle in.

This enabled one to put together a semblance of what was going on: Gezi Park, one of the few public spaces in the city, was slated for demolition, in order to make way for something Istanbul is in no short supply of: a shopping mall. The government's plans were indicative of a larger disconnect with the public, which has included steps to curtail alcohol sales and various other restrictions.

As more and more messages from Turkey appeared in my feed, I shared the ones that were most informative, along with any accompanying links and articles. A few days later, I'd be cited by the Turkish Media as someone from the West who used their profile to help spread early awareness of the movement, which was gratifying. Though I don't consider myself a "celebrity" by any means, the guy pictured next to me, actor Bruce Willis, certainly is.



It seemed unconscionable to me that a major confrontation was going down involving thousands of citizens of all walks of life (including many music fans) being attacked by riot police with tear gas and water canons. Why wasn't this being reported?

Of course, I would have shared this information no matter what. However, I was even more compelled to do so after my trip to the city last year.

During that visit, Testament's show had been cancelled due to an unreliable promoter (an occasional, unfortunate music-biz occurrence not exclusive to Turkey). The routing of the plane tickets had made a stop there unavoidable, despite there being no show. Upon arrival, the first thing we noticed were hordes of airline personnel on strike.



A couple of them recognized us, and asked what brought us to Istanbul. When we explained the situation, we were told by one twenty-something fan "No way is Testament visiting our city without performing a show!" He and his friend asked us what we would need to make a show happen, our crew explained the logistics, expenses etc, some phone calls were made and the next thing you know, these guys had arranged a show for us at the local metal club, DoRock. It was tiny for us these days - more like the first clubs we'd started playing in back in the Bay Area. But it was packed and turned out to be a lot of fun for all. It made our trip there worthwhile.

Afterwards we told these two guys they'd done such a good job, we'd encouraged them to consider leaving the airline jobs (which were in jeopardy anyway, hence the picket lines) and consider a new career in the concert promotion business.

So there is a special relationship with the fans in Turkey, which made sharing this information even more important.

As I write this, the park has been occupied for a week by those who cautiously await their government's next move. I hope for their safety and a peaceful resolution that places the interests of the local citizenry above that of the zombie-like corporations paying big money to politicians hell bent of replacing local cultures with consumerism.

Below are some of my Tweets on Turkey:

Support to protesters in Istanbul - whose govt. plans to destroy a public park & put up a mall - attacked w tear gas link

Stay strong u guys “@absentiain: hail to you mate from Istanbul,thanks for the support” @ardaturegun @rdxtp @SINANYENER

Powerful park protest images on Twitter via @HuffingtonPost link

Enough w these malls. All over the world, they're the same - LL Bean, Aldo, Footlocker etc Replacing a park for more? Insane #occupygezi

If New York or San Francisco planned to demolish Central Park or Golden Gate Park (respectively) and build a mall, it'd get really ugly.

Malls are turning the whole planet into desolate, characterless US suburbia via homogenized, retail sprawl. And the music they play SUCKS.

Anything's better than "mall music." Retail clothing stores - the worst offenders. People who work in those places are slowly deteriorating.

The US is becoming one huge mall “@purple_telvanni: I agree. Can't find anything to enjoy in any mall. But in my area, that's all we have..”

Sickening “@YamanerYaman: And in Istanbul, a mall can be a reason to kill innocent citizens. Yes, people died here last nite:(”

Governments are never perfect (far from it), but one that arrests thousands & tries 2 halt social media is clearly up 2 no good.

And a few days later:

After minimal media attention, front page of @nytimes. That's more like it. #occupygezi