Kurdish Protesters?

Today as I was walking down Upper Wacker Drive at Michigan Avenue, I was greeted by Kurdish protesters outside Turkey's embassy trying to raise awareness about the raids by the Turkish government into Kurdish villages. On December 28, 35 people were killed, most of them children. As I approached the protesters, I was handed an informatory letter describing the issue:

"Current Turkish government, Mr. R.T. Erdogan's cabinet, claims to be a democratic and liberal Islamic country in the Middle East, lectures Syria and Libya for democracy, and accuses Israel of being cruel against Palestinians."

This clearly speaks to the hypocrisy of the Turkish government; the saying "practice what you preach" comes to mind. Certainly this is not the first time in history this has occured. The U.S. government advocated for democracy across the globe, but at the same time did not offer all it's citizens equal rights, for example African Americans were not granted equal rights until 1964.

As I crossed paths with the protesters, I couldn't help but wonder, how does one even begin to get the government to change? Is protesting enough to get the government to recognize the problem and do something about it?

The protesting Kurds would argue yes. The first step to solving a problem is to recognize there is a problem in the first place. What about protesting in the U.S.? Does this help their cause back in Turkey?

It is interesting to see what the media emphasizes and what it does not. As my classmates and I read the signs of the protesters, we were confused as to what the issue was. But us simply being there and recognizing the issue is part of the process of solving it. As I stated above, recognizing the problem and raising awareness is just as important as solving the issue itself.