Category Archives: Accounts of violence

habersoL: Gezi detainee talked about what he went through in Metris prison; ‘The inmates were recounting their murders’

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Umut Akgül, who was arrested during the Gezi Park protests, talked about what he went through in the cells of Metris Prison where he was held alongside homicide suspects . Akgul was not allowed to sleep for days, was forced to fast and shown news clippings of murders .. The prison attorney’s response was, “This is the prison, enjoy it!” [...] → Read the full article…

Human Rights Watch: Turkey: End Incorrect, Unlawful Use of Teargas

A police officer fires teargas on June 17, 2013.
© 2013 Miguel Carminati

Dozens Injured as Police Fired Teargas Canisters Directly at Protesters (Istanbul) – Police fired teargas canisters directly at protesters during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, turning them into dangerous projectiles that caused serious injuries, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has documented 10 cases in which people were seriously injured, including loss of an eye, when police [...] → Read the full article…

Turkey Account of Violence: “ The ones who are weak are not the women, but the ones who perceive us as weak!”

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The Turkish police don’t hold back in prosecuting their own punishment mechanisms while intervening in the protests which have spread nationwide. With the aim of being the security force, the prosecutor and the judge all at the same time, the police not only torture but also sexually harasses the protesters they have detained or taken into custody. Eylem Karadağ, who [...] → Read the full article…

Taraf: The volunteer accused of being a “secret agent”

Céline Rousseau, a volunteer from the European Union (EU), recounted what she went through during her arrest because of Gezi incidents: “At the police department, they wanted me to undress. At District Police Department’s Foreigners’ Office in Kumkapi they refused to give me any water to drink. Céline Rousseau was one of the people who were accused as “the Gezi [...] → Read the full article…

Turkey Accounts of Violence: Turkey vs. the Police: Ethem Sarisülük, the Protester Who Was Murdered by the Police

Photo: Doğu Eroğlu

On the second day of the nationwide Gezi Park protests, June 1st, Ethem Sarısülük, a laborer and human-rights activist was shot in the head by a policeman. After spending 11 critical days at the intensive care unit, news of Ethem’s brain death arrived on June 12, only to be followed by his clinical death on June 14. Despite the hard [...] → Read the full article…

Etha: The Police tortured for hours

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The Turkish police, who has drawn enormous reactions from the people with its actions towards the Gezi protesters, has this time, in Gazi neighborhood, tortured Semih Demir who is 18 years old . The torture has continued for hours on the street, in the forest and at the police station. Semih Demir has described what happened to ETHA: “It was [...] → Read the full article…

FıratNews: Police terror ruins lives

The police terror, described by the PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “epic”, has another one of its victims, İsmail Aslan, who is an undergraduate of philosophy at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Aslan, attempting to enter Taksim Square on the 6th of July upon the call for action by Gezi Solidarity Platform, got injured on his forehead by a gas-shell, [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet: Volkan, whose eyes were cleared of metal beads

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Gezi witnessing continues with Volkan who runs a stationery store. He came to Taksim to protest against the police violence on the first day of Gezi and to support the young people. During the rioting there he was shot in the eye by a bullet fired by the police. He was operated on twice. During the second operation, his eye [...] → Read the full article…

Hurriyet Daily News: Police strike people protesting death of 19-year-old Gezi protester in southern Turkey

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Turkish police intervened against nearly 3,000 people protesting the murder of a 19-year-old Gezi Park protester who died of his wounds July 10, after staying in a coma for 33 days, in the southern province of Hatay. Following the funeral of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who succumbed to his injuries in hospital after being beaten by unidentified people in Eskişehir in [...] → Read the full article…

Fıratnews: Who says there’s no torture at Police Stations in Istanbul?

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Some people may continuously claim that there is no torture at the police station anymore, Metin Toprak says, yet, they were exposed to all kinds of psychological torture including naked body search, insulting, being dragged on the ground, preventing the need to use toilet. Metin Toprak is a chef cook and he was detained and his nose was broken by a chief police officer on the opening [...] → Read the full article…