Call from Istanbulites to International Olympics Committee
I am writing to you as an Istanbulite, as a human rights defender,a spokesperson of Urban Movements/ Habitat International Coalition Network, whose life is under attack as all Istanbulites at the moment. We are undergoing the darkest night in the history of the city!
Dear Mr David Stubbs;
At the moment, Istanbulites are under brutal attack and violence of police forces. The city is under clouds of pepper gas used over limits and Taksim square looks like a war field, a war waged by the government against its own citizens. Rubber bullets, water cannons with scorching chemicals (could be acid!) and blast bombs are also utilized.In front of hospitals, there are queues of naked people waiting for aid. Yet hospitals are also attacked with gas over and over. Hotels around Taksim square are being evacuated now due to extreme use of gas.
http://www.bianet.org/english/crisis/147620-police-attacks-gezi-park-after-pm-s-eviction-callDetails of the events are in the text attached together with links of videos documenting the violence and reports from international human rights organizations.
We would like you to have a look at the videos and pictures and analyze the international reports and then decide once more on having Istanbul on the list of Olympics 2020 or not. We would be very happy if you can share our call with the other members of IOC to get Istanbul out of the list immediately.
We are looking forward to hearing from you;
Best / Cihan Uzuncarsili Baysal
