çapuling

Movie about Gezi Park. All rights reserved by çapuling filmmakers

As they band together and grow in number, they’ve adopted something of a catchphrase, which brings us to the term “çapuling,” alternatively spelled in many social media postings as the anglicized “capuling” or “chappuling.

The Turkish word “çapul” has many meanings, including pillage; rage; plunder and booty to spoil; foray; root; and maraud, according to the Tureng online translation service. It’s unclear exactly where the term originated, but it might be a reference to Erdogan’s description of protesters as “looters.” The accompanying “Everyday I’m Çapuling!” video is likely designed to disarm the word by showing protesters engaged in non-looting activities that aim to counter his use of the loaded term….

However it got started, the term is taking off in a major way. Twitter users have spread the phrase via hashtags, including #çapuling, #capuling, #chappuling, #everydayimcapuling, #everydayimçapuling and more, and the video has gotten so many views in such a short time that it has triggered YouTube’s hit-count-stopping feature.