Thanks to everyone for your kind words of support. What happened? On Sunday 20th October I was fortune telling in Istiklal Street. There was a small crowd around me, when suddenly a gang of plain-clothes Zabita (Street pollice) muscled their way through and told me to beat it. I was quietly gathering up my stuff when one of them said I remember you. We told you to move last week from another pitch and you started shouting something. I felt a sudden surge of anger and replied Oh yes. Can you remember what I shouted? And I shouted it again at the top of my voice - HÜKÜMET İSTİFA! (GOVERNMENT RESIGN! - One of the chants I learned during the Gezi Park protests in the summer.) I shouted it twice before the zabita grabbed me and threw me into the back of their van and drove me off to the poliçe station. When my passport was examined they found that my tourist visa had expired. I had tried to apply for a residence permit earlier in the year but had been refused because of my conviction for insulting the Turkish Prime Minister in 2010, and so had continued staying after its expiry date. I was held overnight in a little cell with 7 other guys, then taken next day to the crowded hellish holding prison for foreigners in another area of Istanbul where I spent the next 10 days waiting to be deported. I was driven to the airport on Monday (yesterday) and put on a plane to Barcelona (my choice of destination, as the thought of cold expensive England had little appeal.) So thats where I am now. Barcelona is a beautiful city and the weather is warm, but my money situation is bad. I only have 200 euros left in the World, so am having to economize severely. Im staying at a cheap hostel in a Street off Las Ramblas. I might tell fortunes with th my runes there, and I hope to find a job teaching English. Will start looking tomorrow. I dont speak Spanish, which is another problem, but its quite an easy language to learn. Ive been banned from returning to Turkey for 5 years, so farewell to all you good people there! I dont think any government will resign unfortunately, but there must be other ways of getting rid of the arrogant despots - in Turkey, England and America, to name but three examples of vile corruption. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! CASTRATE CAPITALISM!
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 21:03:50 +0000
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