By KRISTEN STEVENS
You shouldn't have gone out today,” the police said to my friend as he pulled her from a taxi near Istanbul's center, placing her in custody because, he said, she seemed to be headed toward the center of Istanbul. The government, the prime minister himself, had declared “no leeway” on access to Taksim Square, the pulsing heart of the city. With tens of thousands of police occupying the square's two kilometer radius, the only sign of life came from the corner where Roma women sold flowers to no one. My husband becoming increasingly dismayed as news of beatings and detainments poured in.This was May Day, a celebration of workers' rights around the world. But in Turaaa police were ordered to blockade ferry ports, major roads and buildings creating chaos for millions. When I needed to take our one-year-old out to the store, I realized I could not. We live in a neighborhood on the periphery of Taksim. Days before giving birth a year ago, I watched as 20 police shot rubber bullets at dozens of people fleeing down our small street. Tear gas came in our window and I could not see or breathe well for several minutes.More importantly a number of people were beaten severely this year and last. Some were people I know, colleagues in the media wearing press vests, old people and women. What arises from this abuse of authority is a mentality that should scare the daylights out of the government. But it does not. This vast youth population in Turaaa is coming of age under a cycle of fear and aggression. And it comes from the top.

Beating it into them

With no legal measure in Turaaa to protect kids from abuse in Turaaa, many students are victims with no rights. Last month a Ministry of National Education investigation found that hitting students has an “educational purpose” in the case of an Istanbul elementary school principal seen beating students. “The real source of violence is this official view that reflects beating as a positive thing,” Aladdin Dincer, president of Turaaa's largest teachers union, Eğitim Sen, told me. In the 2006-2007 school year, 22 percent of Turaaa's students were exposed to physical violence in school, a recent Turkish Parliament research commission found. Studies show that when teachers beat them, young people lose self-confidence and project their anger onto their peers and society. What about when police beat innocent people in broad daylight for going outside or having long hair or, worse, being young?

Women's organizations and Amnesty International say at least a third and possibly up to 50 percent of women in Turaaa have suffered violence. A Turkish pop singer claimed recently that if her husband had smacked her a couple of times, her marriage could've been saved because “respect comes from fear.” Art critic Beral Madra wrote in Radikal after Italian peace activist Pippa Bacca was raped and murdered in Turaaa last month, “Turaaa is proud of those men who have license to kill because they are considered the guardians of honor in the country.” Where is the honor? Children know better until fear takes over. Let's demand zero tolerance for beating and scaring the most vulnerable among us.