Turkish Police Detain 170 in Gezi Park Protests Anniversary

Protesters shout slogans as they clash with Turkish riot police during a rally on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the Gezi Park protests near Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey, 31 May 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA Turkish Police Detain 170 in Gezi Park Protests AnniversaryHamdi Firat BuyukSarajevoBIRNJune 1, 202210:21 Turkish police cracked down hard on demonstrators trying to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Gezi Park protests, arresting 170, including journalists covering the event.

Some 170 people, including journalists, were detained on Tuesday after Turkish police aggressively prevented people from marking the ninth anniversary of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.

The crowd was not allowed to enter Taksim Square and Gezi Park and police used violence to stop demonstrators, with barricades, tear gas and batons.

The crowd chanted slogans including: “Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance”, “Don’t obey, lay claim to your country”, and “No to sharia, fascism and darkness”.

Police also detained journalists who were following the protests.

According to the Journalists’ Union of Turkey, six journalists were detained and several of them were injured, including Bulent Kilic, an AFP award-winning photojournalist.

⚡️ #Taksim Gezi Parkı eylemlerinin 9. yıl dönümünde 6 gazeteci gözaltına alındı, pek çok meslektaşımız polis şiddetine maruz kaldı. Protesto da gazetecilik de suç değildir. Sorumlular hakkında işlem yapılsın, meslektaşlarımız serbest bırakılsın! #Gezi9Yasinda pic.twitter.com/6EKwokRfmK

— Gazeteciler Sendikası (@TGS_org_tr) May 31, 2022

“Journalism during a protest is not a crime. Free our collegues,” the union said, calling on the authorities to open investigations against the police officers.

The Gezi Park Protests in 2013 started in defence of a park near Taksim Square that the Istanbul authorities planned to build on.

In a short time, the protests grew into a nationwide outpouring of anger against the increasingly authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They became a nationwide challenge to Erdogan, and were met by a police crackdown in which at least nine people died, and thousands were injured and detained.

Erdogan defined the protests as a coup attempt and claimed they were organised with the help of foreign powers and the US billionaire philanthropist George Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations.

In April this year, in addition to other activists, a former board member of Open Society Foundation in Turkey and human rights activist, Osman Kavala, was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to overthrow the government by financing the 2013 Gezi Park protests.