Baghdad building now a protest landmark
BAGHDAD » The protesters stand by the thousands on the abandoned building’s open floors, waving Iraqi flags and cheering. Some sit on the edge, feet dangling in the air from high floors as they sway to blasting music. They have a bird’s-eye view of Baghdad — and the tens of thousands of demonstrators below.
At night, they wave the lights on their mobile phones at comrades on the ground. Then they move inside the building, dine together, play dominoes and sing patriotic songs until the early hours of the morning. They also are able to watch the security forces battling the protesters.
The 14-story, Saddam Hussein-era building on the Tigris River has emerged as a landmark in the anti-government protests gripping Iraq. The structure has been abandoned since 2003, when it was bombed by the U.s.-led forces in their invasion, but has now been taken over from security forces by demonstrators since Oct. 25. They have sworn not to leave it.
A one-time commercial center, the building was nicknamed the “Turkish Restaurant” because of a famous dining spot on the top floor that was a tourist attraction in the 1980s with panoramic views. Today it is called other names — the “Stalingrad Baghdad,” the “Hanging Gardens” and “Jabal Uhud,” a reference to a mountain north of Medina, Saudi Arabia, that was the site of a historic battle between Muslim and Meccan forces.
The building has clear views of Tahrir Square, nearby bridges and the Green Zone, home to government offices and Western embassies. That makes it a strategic location, and it was previously used by security forces and riot police, according to an Iraqi general.
“The protesters were very smart when they occupied it. They now can monitor the movements of security forces and it’s difficult to get it back because of the crowds,” said the general, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about security measures.
The tower is routinely packed with young men and women, and has become the embodiment of the free spirit unleashed by unprecedented protests that began on Oct. 1 in Baghdad.
Spontaneous and leaderless, the demonstrations were organized on social media over long-standing grievances including government corruption, unemployment and a lack of basic services. They have quickly grown into the largest grassroots protest movement that Iraq has seen.