Nevin Oztop of KAOS GL – Turkey’s magazine for the LGBT community – gave us the run down on what you need to survive Turkey’s street protests.
1: Anti-acid, milk and lemon are useful for burns on skin.
2: Baby Shampoo is also good for washing out your eyes (by the way, contrary to how they advertise it, I experienced it myself that baby shampoo does burn your eyes but not as bad as teargas!)
3: Always wear clothes that cover every inch of your body and have good shoes to run from fascist police!
4: Facebook and Twitter were two main ways of uniting and protecting one another. Phone numbers of lawyers and doctors and addresses of portable “hospitals” were shared. You had to write the exact minute for when you post an address because as all these places and people are moving for their own security – you want to keep the information as valid as possible.
5: Also we tell everyone to never protest alone and have at least a friend with them. People who get arrested with no witness or friend can be subject to more brutality or longer detentions. Also Turkey has one of the worst records for killings in detention. So we would tell everyone to scream out their first and last names when they are being detained. That way it was relatively easier to track people.
But more importantly above all, keep your sense of humour it will take you far…