Mapping Turkey’s Anti-Government Protests in Real-Time

Police attacks on environmental protesters in Istanbul last Friday sparked anti-government demonstrations across Turkey over the weekend. The violence set alight long simmering public tensions with a government tilting more toward Islamism and regularly infringing on personal freedoms expected in modern democracy.

The map below from Recorded Future shows spreading unrest during the last seven days, and clicking through to the live visualization will keep you updated as reports continue to stream in via news and social media about events in a particular city or state.

Turkish Protests By City – Last Seven Days

The latest unrest, which began peacefully over government proposed development of a city park that would include demolition of the Ataturk Cultural Center that serves as a prominent secular symbol, has since evolved into dissent over a range of social issues and government impositions. It caps a troublesome month for the Turkish government that also included controversial handling of a freedom of speech case and shows of force against student protests.

The protests show few signs of abating as of this post, and they may grow in strength as the Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK), one of four national trade unions, plans to hold a “‘warning strike’ on June 4-5 to protest… crackdown on anti-government protests over the last four days.”