Street writing: “Bizi rezil bir geleceğin kölesi sandılar” (“They thought we were slaves to a disgraced future.”) – Izmir
Türkiye is going through an intense period of inter-generational political communication. Until now, there were discussions inside certain ideological groups that faced generation gaps. Although this is still one of the discussions of this wave of protests, we witness the coming together of large groups that we would otherwise be surprised to be seen together. Although the protests were sparked by the imprisonment of the mayor of Istanbul and the cancellation of diplomas, the problem arose at a deeper level. People object to their young lives being spent in a crisis of democracy and economy, facing restrictions on their freedoms. The same party of Erdogan has been in power since most protesters were born. People oppose the lifestyle that the same decision-makers want to impose, and they address poverty, lawlessness, social problems, and problems in the education and health systems. That is why the ones who stand out in the protest are university students, many of the young people who protested were detained and arrested are around their 20s.
The fact that university students took responsibility and shaped the direction of the protests had a more significant impact than what both the opposition party and the state expected. The state appears to believe that it has created a young generation who would not protest and keep silent in the country for many years, yet Gen Z, which is considered passive by the public or older generations, continues to progress by breaking down prejudices.
The common usage of the internet accelerates the rapid response of protesters who are trying to organize with web forums, social media, and digital communication applications. It is also easier to establish inter-university solidarity networks. In this way, committees were formed where decisions were made not only intra-university but also among universities. Oppositely, the communication and media bureaucracy, which is one of the high-budget institutions that the government wants to keep under control, is also used as a pressure tool. Although digital control mechanisms such as internet bandwidth throttling and web service bans have been applied in addition to the pressures on traditional media like television and radio, young people are prepared for and familiar with, has ceased to be a problem for this protest period. This country has seen many bans for many reasons, including the most recent Roblox and Discord bans. Being used to such restrictions, almost every age group, especially Gen Z, has mastered alternative methods to access applications and social media networks that are banned.
The fact that police violence began after the live broadcasts were banned on television and members of the press were moved out or blocked from the meeting areas shows how important digital media is. People are taking responsibility for individually broadcasting and spreading the violence shown. Apart from the controlled protests of the parties, the actions on university campuses and the police violence can only be viewed through live broadcasts made by individuals from their X, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. Afterward, since the images shot by independent journalists cannot be broadcast on the channels, they are served on social media. On the other hand, the government sees and tracks communication on social platforms, and more than 130 student communities’ and journalists’ X accounts were rapidly getting banned in Türkiye.
What ‘s happening on social media? First, the protestors want to reach the information and the truth without a filter or censorship and try to produce a modern campaign. On the streets, they did not receive the support they had expected from the unions, other political parties, NGOs, and the main opposition party. So, they are also protesting against the opposition parties’ decisions and silent institutions, which are not demonstrating an ideological stance. It is resistance to the system. Protests are called student protests in mainstream media, and protestors do not want them to remain protests made only by younger generations. They are inviting the academy and many sectors to strike and boycott. The opposition party organizes the visible face of this boycott. However, more systematic and broad boycotts are shaped in university society forums and then spread through social media and web blogs, where they show their reaction using the same tools. For example, institutions and influencers who do not react to the events are encouraged not only by unfollowing them but also by blocking them in return for the algorithm appearing against them, increasing the number of views and preventing the boost. Although the economic boycott is a more familiar reaction, the indirect boycott of digital assets and people’s digital accounts is a striking issue for the process. In this regard, Gen Z has made quite a splash in the digital organization, where they are stronger and in a position to set the agenda on media.
On the one hand, there also exists a generational conflict in the context of social media communication. Suppose we are to make a general distinction with age. In that case, it is possible to make a quick distinction in three: Adult and elderly group, a middle-aged group that has seen the Gezi Protests period, and Gen Z. While the conservative elderly group accuses Gen Z of going out to the streets and rebelling against the state, the middle-aged group accuses them of being unorganized and uncontrolled, and the opponents who react to the masses do not participate in street protests for this reason. Interestingly, in Türkiye, the sanctity of the state and the police has been established on solid foundations and adopted by most of the society. This was similar for Gen Z, who grew up with more nationalist ideas along with the increasing refugee density in Türkiye and global ideological circumstances. However, Gen Z has not committed any acts of aggression yet but has encountered harsh intervention and oppression from the police. It seems that this will also damage the established police and state norms.
Whirling dervish in front of a police barricade – Istanbul
Another interesting point is the methodology of the protests. Gen Z is accused of being disrespectful to values and making fun of everything. They are said to not understand the seriousness of the situation. However, this situation has gone beyond traditional protest methods. Türkiye’s meme pages, which have a different meme culture, see street culture and ideological state oppression from a different perspective and turn it into a humorous element. For example, the video of Pikachu running away from the police has been watched more than other police violence and resistance videos; moreover, the world press and global meme pages have attracted the attention of the whole world.
AI-generated images are used to spread and increase sympathy for the protests. Similarly, the photo of the whirling dervish -an Anatolian form of worship from a sect- standing in front of the police has encouraged people and opened a different way to reach the religious and conservative people. Because framing, which is provided by editors and is under state oppression in traditional media, continues to remain in echo chambers and in the feeds of like-minded people thanks to algorithms on social media. So, to overcome this framing, it is necessary to reach different people with a different language. Young people who display their creativity continue to keep this resistance and protest for the difficulties they experience in the country and voice their demands for democracy and their desire to live their young lives freely, peacefully, and uniquely. The protests, which are only a week old and are Gen Z’s first physical manifestations, appear to be set to see creative tactics emerge day by day and are likely to continue gaining global attention.