Gezi Park protests and MAD hijack

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from activist and actor Memet Ali Alabora on how his social media post contributed to the civil unrest following the Gezi Park protests in Turkey in 2013.

Our guest, Selin Girit who covers Turkey for BBC World Service, talks to us about Turkey's important position between Europe and Asia. We also learn about the fighting in 1980 between the left and right-wing groups that led to Turkey’s military taking control of the country. Vice Admiral Isik Biren, who was an official in the defence ministry, and a former student activist, Murat Celikkan recount their different memories of the coup.

We hear more about Turkey’s geographic connection from Harvey Binnie who was involved with the design of the first Bosphorus suspension bridge in 1973. And from Zimbabwe, economist Professor Gift Mugano, on how the country’s annual inflation rate was 89.7 sextillion percent in 2008. And finally the story of how a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked by four teenagers calling themselves the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD). Obed Taseobi was a passenger on that flight in 1993.

Contributors: Memet Ali Alabora – activist and actor Selin Girit – BBC World Service reporter Vice Admiral Isik Biren – former official in the Turkish defence ministry Murat Celikkan – former student activist Harvey Binnie – member of design team for the Bosphorus bridge Professor Gift Mugano – economist Obed Taseobi – Nigerian Airways passenger

(Photo: Protesters clash with Turkish police near Gezi Park in Istanbul, June 2013. Credit: Getty Images)