As a guest, I want to be respectful and understanding of my position within Turkey. I want to be sensitive about what I say regarding the current political situation. Just as I would question anyone who might comment on my country who is not from there, I want to be careful and well, polite. However, I want to make one thing clear. The protesters have been called thugs, Çapulcu (which I think means loser), criminals and other inflammatory names by the current administration. From my point of view, this simply is not the case. I have been to Gezi Park…

“May you live in interesting times’ is a quote that kept going through my mind this week as both sides in this Turkish conflict seem to be digging in deeper to what they each hold true. Well, It turns out that this quote is actually considered to be a curse… yikes. My heart goes out to the people of Turkey who are fighting so courageously for their voices to be heard. Many ex-pats are going to Taksim Square/Gezi Park and discussing how peaceful it is and that there is this utopian community that has sprung up so quickly. This aspect…