Gill Buckle is an EarthDesk reader who commented on Caroline Craig’s report on Taksim Gezi Park after his return from Istanbul, Turkey. We asked him to tell us what he saw. Below is his report. Thanks, Gill!

Protesters building a barricade at Taksim Gezi Park. Photo by Gill Buckle.

We were staying at the Titanic Hotel close to the park and square for Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. I’ve attached a photo of starting to build a new barricade on Saturday evening. We have many photos of the square from Monday afternoon. Also a few other photos including outside a TV studio and one of a demonstration in Gelibolu (we know it as Gallipoli) on Saturday afternoon.

The most noticeable thing in the evenings was the noise of chanting and drums and singing and cheering. It felt like everyone in the area supported the protest. When there was tear gas, restaurants let people affected nearby come in and shut the doors to try to keep the tear gas out.

People were very strong about the importance of continuing the protest and concerned that [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan was moving towards a dictatorship and moving towards a Muslimist state and away from the ideals of [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk.

All the best, Gill