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Turkish protestors use social media to raise thousands for New York Times ad

Ariel Cohen Contributor
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It took days for the media to pay attention to the uprisings surrounding Istanbul, so the Turkish people decided to pull others into the conversation.

Through social media based crowd-funding, a campaign associated with the protests in Turkey has surpassed its $53,800 fundraising goal in under 24 hours to pay for a full page ad in the New York Times.

More than 1,300 backers collected money through the Indeiegogo campaign, an online crowd-sourcing site.

“We want the world to hear from Turks themselves about what’s happening in Turkey,” the campaign mission statement said. “We want the world to support us as we push for true democracy in our country.”

While the final ad will not be published until Thursday or Friday, thousands voted on a rough draft, expressing their concerns for the country.

“We are not looters or extremists. We are students, teachers, workers, mothers, fathers,” the ad reads. “We represent various ethnicities and creeds. We stand United because of our concern for Turkey’s future.”

The ad goes on to demand an “end to policy brutality,” a “free and unbiased media” as well as “an open dialogue, not the dictate of an autocrat.”

As of Wednesday morning, the campaign has raised over $93,000. The ad is set to run in the front section of the New York Times on Thursday or Friday.

William Green contributed reporting.

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