During June 2013, Istanbul city becomes the scene of the most significant urban movement of Turkish history. The participants were moved by many personal reasons, which however can be grouped as one, obtain The Right to the City. This paper aims to understand which impact Gezi Park had on Turkish political environment. Starting from a spatial description, Gezi Park is located in Taksim Square, in the European side of Istanbul in Turkey. Every day thousands of citizens and tourists pass by this area, which is considered the heart of the country. It does not only have the attribute of a public green area but it also represents the Turkish history, from the yearly celebration of labours’ day to the origins of the Turkish Republic (Eryılmaz, 2016). From the Ottoman time until now, the square has been spatially developed with political monuments such as the Artillery Barracks (1806), Republican Monument (1928), Inonu Promenade (Gezi Park, 1943) and Ataturk Cultural Center (principally an Opera House, 1978). As Soja (2009) states, there is no place that does not embody ideological and political values and Taksim Square is one of the clearest examples of public space embracing civic and social sense. As people are shaped by place, places have the power to affect people: this strong connection arises the demand from the community to be part of the decision-making process. However, when a top-down approach is exploited by the public institution, it often simplifies the complexity of spatiality and it does not consider the common sense of ownership and the power of community support (Sorensen, Sagaris, 2010).

In May 2013, the Turkish government approves a new urban plan for Taksim Square, which consists in constructing a pedestrian zone, rebuilding the Ottoman Military Barracks and an additional shopping mall, to the detriment of the park (Eryılmaz, 2016). At the end of the month, hundred thousands of people gather in Gezi Park and Taksim Square. Gezi Park is a social and political action that can be defined as an Occupy Movement, whose features are simultaneously spatial, political and social. It consists on the occupation of an old space with new content: while keeping some elements of the space, the power of relations between actors changes and determines the use of the area (Marcuse, 2014), as Gezi Park arises from people need to express and empower themselves to become essential actors of their politics. The protesters are moved initially by environmental reasons - protect the trees - which mutate into the political objective to resist against an authoritarian government. Each demonstrator is driven by specific and personal purposes, which can also be grouped as one, claim a free and just country, where different behaviours and beliefs are welcome: “the right of all city habitants to participate in the political life of the city (fighting against discrimination), and their right to political struggle of resistance (fighting against repression)” (Dikec, 2001, pp. 1800).

Space and its deeper meaning can be changed by social and political actions (Soja, 2009), however the protest has not shaped the Turkish political scene until today: the government paused the plan to demolish the park and people voices got heard; on the other hand, the aggressive behaviour of police forces increased against opposite political ideas.It is possible to assume that the weaknesses of the Gezi Park movement, such as the absence of leadership and strategy, did not let the activist population of Istanbul reach the Right to the City. Government violent reaction can be interpreted as the main anti-democratic fact that shows the unwillingness of the state to collaborate.

Watch the video to listen the stories of Gezi Park demonstrators.