(more) Lessons From Turkey: Dangers of Market Fetishism

June 19, 2013

Postdoctoral Fellow Nukhet Sandal continues to comment in the press on the protests in Turkey, calling on observers to look past the demonstrations' religious and symbolic significance. In The Huffington Post today she writes that the protests "are not about the tension between the Islamists and the secularists, but between crony capitalism and a segment of population who dare to question the personal profits that were made from their country's heritage. In other words, the protests represent the tipping point of the frustrations of the informed public with a government that has treated forests and historical buildings as private property, constructing luxury residences and shopping centers through contracts given to family and friends."