World

Performance Artist Inspires Silent Protests in Turkey

Uncertain whether he's among the arrested

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Turkish protesters are giving their government the silent treatment.

Hundreds of men and women stood silently Tuesday in Istanbul's Taksim Square emulating the performance artist whose quiet protest Monday night quickly gained him the nickname "Standing Man."

For more than five hours, Erdem Gunduz had stared toward a portrait of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish state, whose likeness adorns the side of the Ataturk Cultural Center in the square.

Police eventually moved in to arrest many of those who had joined him, but it was unclear Tuesday whether Gunduz was in custody.