With a Burst of Color, Turkey’s Public Walkways Become a Focus of Quiet Protest [1]

 

The New York Times: The Lede - 9/03/13,
By SEBNEM ARSU and ROBERT MACKEY

Those walkways generally attract little notice, but that changed last week, when a retired forestry engineer decided to paint the Findikli stairs in the central district of Beyoglu in all the colors of the rainbow [2] — an act of guerrilla beautification that unintentionally triggered a fresh ripple of anti-government protests.

 

 

The retiree behind the caper, Huseyin Cetinel, 64, told the local news media [3] that his original motivation for applying a fresh coat of paint to the stairs was not activism, but the desire “to make people smile.” Mr. Cetinel said he spent nearly $800 on paint and devoted four days to sprucing up the stairs, with help from his son-in-law.

Video and more: TheLede.Blogs.NYTimes.com [4]