Turkey coup, Tiananmen protests offer valuable lessons

The military coup against Turkey’s government seems to have failed with the intervention of civilians (“Turkey rounds up 6,000 after failed coup”; July 18).

The incident evoked memories of China’s Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. That incident and the failed coup in Turkey seem to be a historical recurrence, though not of a similar nature.

The uncanny resemblance I am referring to is of a man on the street challenging a convoy of tanks. In 1989, newspapers round the world showed front-page pictures of the man who defied the tanks in Beijing.

He was dubbed “Tank Man”, and the photographs have become of historical significance, symbolising the fight of the innocent or oppressed against military strength and the mighty.

And 27 years later, we see a picture of a courageous shirtless Turk standing before a tank at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. The image of a lone man trying to block the military’s advance will now become an iconic image.

The two events are also similar in the sense that the troops were armed. Though I believe the soldiers were not out to kill anyone, both incidents have sadly been measured in fatalities beyond anyone’s imagination.

From these incidents, the young should notice historical recurrences, which create greater awareness of the events unfolding around them in the region. Children and adults alike could have greater knowledge of world history — for instance, the rise and fall of modern empires.

The striking images captured in the two events show real heroes who put their own lives in danger for a good cause and to protect others, though it is not to be emulated all the time in such situations.

We do not know what happened to the two men, and whether staring death in the face paid off eventually. But we know the 1989 protests were suppressed, and the coup in Turkey was foiled.

Nonetheless, the events should be an important learning point in history.