Taksim Meydanı'nın Cumhuriyet'in Kamusal Alanı Olarak İnşası

Abstract

Although it became the subject of recent debates due to the pedestrianization project; Taksim Square has been a critical public space redefined over and over through interventions of the political powers. Hence, there are similarities between such acts of intervention and the most recent one. In this paper, the aim is to provide a reading on different ideological acts that has been triggered by the construction of the Monument of Republic. Century long history of the square and various attempts of transformation will be discussed in the historical perspective and within a framework defined by the gezi/monument/square relations. In other words, the objective could also be defined as to provide a thorough discussion on many connotations of ‘public’ space that became explicit through the politically driven acts of transformation.