Man stands up to cops. Literally

Anti-government protesters in Turkey stage another round of silent protests. Paul Chapman reports.

Take that, goverment. Oof!

• Turkish protests take a non-violent turn
• Man stands in protest. Just stands.
• Authorities unsure what to do
• Turkish protests now in their third week

THIS is an outstanding story, in every sense of the word.

To be precise, this is a story about a guy out standing in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey.

All day long, Turkish man Erdem Gunduz has been standing. That's it. And his stand, if you'll excuse the pun, has quickly become one of the strongest symbols of resistance to the government in the current wave of Turkish protests.

Any resemblance to Mark Knopfler, lead singer and excellent guitarist from '80s band Dire Straits, is purely coincidental. Source:

After violence flared up at several protests across Turkey, Erdem Gunduz chose a different approach. An approach which evokes comparisons with famous peaceful protests like those of Mahatma Ghandi, and the protestor who stood up to the tank in China's Tiananmen Square.

It started at twilight on June 17, 2013, when Mr Gunduz walked across Istanbul's Taksim Square and stood facing toward the Ataturk Cultural Center. You could have mistaken him for a tourist. Except tourists generally mill about and then go somewhere.

Not Mr Gunduz. He was going nowhere. Not only that, but he barely moved a muscle. He just stood there, hands in pockets. And continued standing some more. And kept standing.

His face gave away little. His expression was nonchalant. Defiant but not aggressive. Determined rather than angry.

Standing is the new sitting Source: news.com.au

As protests against the Turkish government enter their third week, activists are trying to show the government that violence is neither their aim nor their preferred method of making a point.

Mr Gunduz has now been joined by many of his countrymen and women. Not everybody is sympathetic. Some people have tried to poke him and provoke an angry response. He won't stand for that. His response is simply to stand some more.

Perhaps he passed his time listening to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" Source:

Across Turkey, people are now standing alongside him, emulating his peaceful protest.

Turks have even created a Twitter hashtag, #duranadam, which translates as "standing man".

Prime Minister Erdogan has previously labelled the protesters terrorists, but that's become a pretty hard line to peddle given the non-violent nature of the standing protests.

Careful. Standing can lead to holding hands. Source:

The protests in Turkey originally started over a plan to build a mall on one of the rare areas of green space in Istanbul.

Protests soon grew into a movement of both right- and left-wing activists, plus regular citizens, who were angry at a government which is viewed as increasingly Islamist and authoritarian.

But many Turks remain extremely supportive of the government, which has eradicated a culture of corruption in many sectors of public life, and helped make the Turkish economy one of the strongest in Europe.

In an overnight development, the Turkish government has approved the peaceful resistance which is spreading through Turkey.

"This is not an act of violence," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said. "We cannot condemn it."

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