#Taksim developments until 14h (local)

The police entered Gezi park at 14h (local)

Here's the latest developments in Istanbul and the Taksim battlefield, according to @wearerabble 's tweets. An interesting side of the story is that it appears that mainstream media started showing footage from the protests (and yet not exactly fresh at all times); on the other hand, there are protesters confirming the presence of plain-cloth policemen at the protests.

Here's the storify:

Guest post: The new ‘age of insurrections’ is far from over!

Thoughts on the political significance of the Turkish movement

By Panagiotis Sotiris [1]

It is still early to fully appreciate the consequences of the popular uprising in Turkey. However, one thing is for sure: we are still at a very particular historical conjuncture, marked not just by protest and contention, but also by movements of impressive magnitude and an almost insurrectionary character.

From December 2008 in Greece, that extraordinary “postcard from the future”, to the Arab Spring, the Indignados Movement, the prolonged struggle of the Greek people against austerity, the Occupy movement in North America, the student revolts in Britain, Canada and Chile and the current Turkish protests, we have been witnessing movements that are not only massive but also go beyond simply articulating grievances and demands. These are movements that, one way or the other, demand radical social and political change. That is why they do not take the form of traditional protests, nor do they engage in pressure politics. Rather, they opt for new and highly original forms of almost insurrectionary practices that not only make manifest a deep discontent with contemporary neoliberal capitalist societies, but also attempt to turn their alternative visions of democracy and justice into practice.