Türkiye: Does Pikachu become a symbol of resistance?

Pikachu escapes from the police. A film scene? No – a video from Turkey. The biggest mass protests have been playing there in over ten years, and the iconic mythical creature is right in the middle of it. A video divided a thousand times on the net shows the yellow Pokémon, which flashed between demonstrating with Turkish flags, the police on the heels.

The video was probably recorded in the southern Turkish city of Antalya. Behind or rather under the inflatable Pokémon costume was apparently a Turkish demonstrator who, like thousands, was currently protesting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The latter had had his only political challenger, Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, with obviously baseless allegations. His party, the secular CHP, officially wanted to choose the presidential candidate. But it is now in custody for suspicion of corruption and terrorism support.

Since then, the situation in Turkey has been as tense than for a long time. Even moments such as the Pikachu car that would cause a smile under normal circumstances are stylized in times like this.

Media-related media, for example, defamed the Pikachu costume as a targeted campaign of the opposition. The broadcaster CNN Türk accused the protester to use the ceremonial figure invented in Japan in the mid-1990s as a means of “psychological warfare”. So the opposition tries to make rallies appear more likeable and motivate more people to join the street protests. As proof of its supposed attack, the channel sent a list of Pikachus properties – including the ability to attack enemies with electricity and communicate via flashes.

The Pokémon has now become a symbol for protesters: activists and sympathizers of the Turkish protests worldwide with the yellow anime figure. But there is criticism even from their ranks. In the social networks, users complained that Pikachu has the protests trivialized and what a fun event looks like.

The reality is different: since the beginning of the demonstrations a week ago there have been numerous arrests nationwide. The Turkish Ministry of the Interior has been counting almost 2000 arrested people, several hundred are still in custody. Istanbul’s mayor İmamoğlu has now officially been removed from his office. On the streets in cities such as Antalya or Istanbul, it will be decided whether he can compete against Erdoğan in the upcoming election campaign.

If Pikachu has a share in it, it will surely be remembered as a symbol of Turkish resistance for a long time. If not, then the Pokémon brought at least one in Turkey.