The parents of Berkin Elvan, a teenager who was struck in the head with a gas canister fired by a police officer during the anti-government Gezi Park protests in İstanbul in 2013 and subsequently succumbed to his injuries, appeared in court on Friday, charged with allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to Turkish media, the charges are based on Sami and Gülsum Elvan’s public statements made in 2020 and 2021 holding Erdoğan — prime minister at the time of the protests — responsible for Berkin’s death because he ordered the police to use excessive force to suppress the protests.
Gülsüm Elvan, Berkin’s mother, was targeted by Erdoğan at a public rally in 2014. Erdoğan branded Berkin a terrorist and let the crowd to boo the woman.
During the hearing Gülsüm Elvan said she was a grieving mother who was still seeking justice for her son. “My son’s murderers are still on the job [as police officers], yet I am the one on trial. My lawyer, Can Atalay, is in prison. I have been called a ‘slut’ by Erdoğan and publicly booed.”
Both parents said the accusations against them were baseless.
The trial has attracted widespread public attention, with former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Hüda Kaya attending the proceedings in person. The next hearing is scheduled for April 9.
The mass protests that rocked the country in 2013 started over plans to demolish Gezi Park, one of the rare green spaces in central İstanbul. The anger quickly spiraled into broader protests against Erdoğan over his authoritarian policies, such as controlling the media and the judiciary. The Erdoğan government’s harsh response to the Gezi protestors left 11 people dead and thousands injured.
Berkin Elvan was among those who were killed during the protests. He died on March 11, 2014 after remaining in a coma for 269 days. He was 14 when the police officer shot him in the head with a tear gas canister and 15 when he passed away.
In 2023 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated Elvan’s right to life. The court also said Turkey failed to conduct an effective investigation into government officials’ possible roles in the death of the teenager.
Turkey has only convicted one police officer, Fatih Dalgalı, sentencing him to 17 years in prison for causing Elvan’s death.
