Politics has never been Hassan Taskan's strong point. " I've never been involved in politics, I've never been interested, " says the 21-year-old from Antalya.
He is most fascinated by the gym, comic book heroes, and humorous videos on social media.
More than 120,000 people follow him on Instagram, where he mainly uploads videos and photos from his gym workouts, but no one knew that it was Hassan, the person who, disguised as Pikachu, was running to escape the police on the streets of Antalya, during protests against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tashkent has been in the spotlight during protests in support of the arrested mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is in custody on charges of corruption and supporting terrorism.
Imamoglu's arrest was seen as a move by Erdogan to get rid of his only serious opponent on the eve of the presidential election.
Pikachu symbol of protest
Turkey has been in turmoil ever since. Hundreds of thousands of citizens take to the streets every day, with authorities making at least 2,000 arrests. The wave of protest shows no sign of abating, and somewhere in there, in the role of an unwanted protagonist, is Taskan. The influencer has suddenly become a symbol of Turkish resistance.
This came after a video posted on social media last Sunday from a demonstration in Antalya. Amidst the protesters, a giant Pikachu is seen walking down the street. Pikachu follows the crowd and at other times is seen running from the police. Inside the giant mask was none other than the young Hasan Taskan.
The idea for Pikachu
Speaking to Der Spiegel magazine, the 21-year-old Turk explains that he initially followed the protests from afar. “ Events were moving fast, social media was filled with videos and all my friends were extremely worried ,” he says.
On the eighth day of the protests, he decided to intervene in his own way. "I wanted to lighten the mood a bit. So I decided to disguise myself and walk through the crowd."
Taskan said his goal was to make people laugh. It wasn't his first time. He started with a dinosaur costume, then an alien, and finally, Pikachu. He chose Pikachu because he's "very cute, very recognizable, and probably the most famous."
Taskan's image went viral and went viral. Now, anti-Erdogan protests are hard to understand without the presence of the Pokemon character. Whether on posters, flags, stuffed animals or costumes, Pikachu is present both in Turkey and abroad.
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" I never imagined that what I did would have such an impact. I think it's mostly because of Pikachu himself ," he commented.
A member of the opposition CHP party, Imamoglu's party, hailed Pikachu as "a great example of Generation Z creativity" that helped ease the tension.
reaction
However, not everyone saw the move positively. State media described Pikachu's presence as "psychological warfare" by the opposition. Objections were also raised by some protesters. Some believe that Pokémon detracts from the seriousness of the events and mocks the protest.
Taskan himself says that for several days he avoided leaving the house, except for a few visits to his family, as he admits that the arrests at the protests scared him.
However, he continues to upload videos of his appearances on Instagram and, despite his initial distancing from politics, ends his posts with a message that hardly sounds political.
" I dream of a Turkey where all young people can live happily. A Turkey where everyone will have the freedom to freely express their opinions ," the 21-year-old writes. (A2 Televizion)
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