Tahrir Square in Baghdad was the centre of Iraq’s massive, nonviolent Tishreen uprising in October 2019. Protesters occupied a deserted 14-storey building (next to Tahrir Square) which people call ‘the Turkish restaurant’ – because there used to be a Turkish restaurant in it.
This is an aerial view of the Turkish restaurant and of some of the protests on the ground, 1 November 2019. Down below, you can see a row of tuk-tuks (auto rickshaws) which provided first aid and which took people to and from the occupation. Activists set up a tent city in Tahrir Square which carried on into the summer despite brutal repression by the security forces and pro-government militias; the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine; and punishing living conditions. Over 600 demonstrators were killed by pro-government forces during the first three months of the uprising. The demonstrations haven’t ended. Thousands come out to protest every October, shouting, as in 2019: ‘We want to overthrow the regime.’
