1/21/2016

#crossingnomore:Wedontwanttodrownnomore!|bordermonitoring.eu

bordermonitoring.eu

TRKEI

#CROSSINGNOMORE: WE DONT WANT

TO DROWN NO MORE!
17. SEPTEMBER 2015 | BK

Mathias Fiedler, Istanbul

It has beenin planning for some time. While many people are trying to escape at Izmir and
Bodrum via boat for quite a long time now.Especially in the warlike areas at the borders with
Syria and Iraq, the pogroms against Kurdish civilians and hundreds of HDP offices and Kurdish
shops destroyed the hope for many migrants to find a peaceful life in Turkey. Yet,after hearing
the good news of thousands welcomed to Europe, people have found new hope. The group called
out for a protest via Social Networks and informed Media and humanitarian organizations about
it. The first sentence reads as follows:
http://bordermonitoring.eu/tuerkei/2015/09/busofhopefromistanbul/

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#crossingnomore:Wedontwanttodrownnomore!|bordermonitoring.eu

Because of the death of too many of our brothers and the fatal risks they have to take to
cross the border from Turkey to Greece in order to make a better life for themselves, we
are planning to gather at the border around Edirne on 15th of September 2015 and claim
for our right to cross it safely.

Undoubtedly, the unlicensed protest directed the attention to the situation of the refugees in
Turkey. It was planned as a peaceful demonstration with thousands holding signs. Already on
Monday night hundreds of refugees left their cities to Edirne. Many tried to walk tothe border
with Greece at Pazarkule but could not cross it. 250 people were able to reach Edirne by foot and
ended at the bus terminal. There they staged a sit-in. Police and Gendarmerie blocked many
others from entering the city. Some were convinced to return to Istanbul. More than 1000 people
entered again the city of Edirne, but were blocked from going to the border with buses. More
than 600 people are currently blocked at the bus station, some of them have started a hungerstrike.
Hundreds of people have also got stuck at the bus station in Istanbul and the police locked the
area with barricades and a bulldozer. Currentlythe refugees are not allowed to buy tickets from
the companies. Themedia is not allowed to enter the scene. During the day the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel had a phone conversation with Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the President
of Turkey. In the press release of the German government from Wednesday it is mentioned that
they talked about working closer together, tackling the refugee crisis and combating the
criminal activities of smugglers. This sounds ironicwhen juxtaposed to another statement,
coming from the press release of the Edirne protest:

http://bordermonitoring.eu/tuerkei/2015/09/busofhopefromistanbul/

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Its important to believe that our cause is right and the concerned agencies should take the
responsibility to work with migrants. Therefore, we prepared a petition that we all invite
you to sign and support.
The protest of the revolting people at the Istanbul bus station is targeting especially Turkey, by
holding Turkish flags and signs with slogans addressing Germanys Chancellor. Other signs are
thematizing the problems, which migrants have in Turkey. They state that no more people should
be let to drown. Today again more than 20 people drowned at the coast in Bodrum. Even in the
Istanbul quarter of Aksaray the selling of life jackets has increasingly become a business.
The protest of migrants, fleeing from broken homes and looking for a new lifethis time got more
attention than the exodus of more than 30 buses, that tried to move through the TurkishBulgarian border in June 2015. During the new occupation of the bus stations in Istanbul and
Edirne, the migrants stated that they will not surrender until they are allowed to crossthe border
peacefully. Winter is coming soon, so there is no doubt that the people whoare reclaiming their
rights to move freely and who have been caught into the limbo of a political and humanitarian
crisis, will be trying their luck by the end ofthe long summer of migration. They have nothing to
lose.

http://bordermonitoring.eu/tuerkei/2015/09/busofhopefromistanbul/

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