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Turkish Game Show Host Sneaks #OccupyGezi Onto Air


June 6, 2013 | Andy Cush

In a mainstream media environment that has staunchly avoided any mention of the protests and police violence that are raging in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, one surprising, subversive Turkish source put #OccupyGezi on TV: Ali Ihsan Varol, host of “Kelime Oyunu,” or “The Word Game.”

Every single one of Varol’s questions and answers on the show slyly or overtly nodded at the protests. From Zeynep Tufekci, a Turkish sociologist who translated the whole show:

1- A journey undertaken to see, to have fun: GEZI –name of the park that is at the center of the protests.

2- A large garden with trees and flowers in the center of a place of residence that allows people to breathe: PARK

3- In international law, someone who is not a member of armed forces or other armed groups in a country: CIVILIAN

4- An activity geared towards trying to change or improve a situation: A PROTEST [EYLEM]

5- A coming together around a set of ideas without being divided: UNITY

6- The metaphor for understanding what the facts are: TO WAKE UP

You get the idea. After 60 or more similar clues (it’s really worth perusing the whole list), Varol wrapped things up beautifully.

66-A person that concentrates all political power: DICTATOR

67-A person who serves for money: SERVANT

68-A ruling system in which executive power can act independent of judiciary: PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM (internal Turkish political transition discussion)

69-To voluntarily give up a position: RESIGN

70-The act that makes a person bigger by asking to be forgiven for wrong actions: APOLOGIZE

Watch a clip from the show above.