A protest is a statement or action directed toward something with which they disagree or disapprove. When a protest occurs in-person, the people involved are a part of a crowd. Do you see where we’re going with this?

The recent events in Turkey began as an occupy movement to prevent forced construction in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and has since ionized hundreds of thousands of Turks — from all walks of life — who are incensed with the government’s apparent de-secularization of rule and authoritarian practices.

Still — and not unlike the events of the Arab Spring — the motivations and messages of these protesters as well as the violent police crackdown that has ensued is not reaching the United States unfettered.

Given this lack of information and the dangerous speed with which the events in Turkey are developing, a group of concerned Turks started an Indiegogo campaign to fund a full-page ad in either The New York Times or Washington Post, so that the world can “hear from Turks themselves about what’s happening in Turkey. We want the world to support us as we push for true democracy in our country.” Setting their goal at the exact amount for a NYT ad, they were able to quickly raise the $53,800 needed and are closing in on $90,000.

The speed and urgency of their campaign has been impressive — not only have they surpassed their goal, but the campaign organizers have also sent out a survey (pictured above), asking contributors which version of the ad they’d like published in the NYT as well as posted on Reddit, crowdsourcing the use of the extra money they raise. The campaign has only been running for THREE DAYS. They have harnessed the incredible power of the crowd — both on the ground and online — to quickly take action.

While we have been inspired by the impassioned mobilization of the crowd inside and outside of Turkey, our thoughts are with the Turkish people, and we hope there is no escalation in violence.

 Check out the campaign!