Turkish police detained 24 people in Ankara on Monday while breaking up a demonstration marking the 13th anniversary of the Gezi Park protests and commemorating Ethem Sarısülük, who was killed by a police officer during the 2013 unrest.
Demonstrators attempted to march toward Güvenpark, where Sarısülük was shot, but police sealed off the square with barricades and allowed only his family and lawyer to enter before dispersing the crowd with tear gas, the BirGün daily reported.
Those detained included Mezopotamya News Agency reporter Sema Bingöl, members of the Sol (Left) Party’s Central Executive Board and Party Assembly and executives from the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK).
Two detainees were released on Monday evening due to health problems, while Bingöl and five others were released on Tuesday after giving statements to the police. The remaining 16 were referred to an Ankara courthouse to give testimony to prosecutors.
The Gezi Park protests began in İstanbul in May 2013 over government plans to demolish the park near Taksim Square and quickly spread nationwide, drawing millions who denounced what they viewed as then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
The protests were violently suppressed, leaving at least seven demonstrators dead and thousands injured, while hundreds of people were later prosecuted. Erdoğan subsequently labelled them as a “coup attempt” against him
Police officer Ahmet Şahbaz, who fatally shot Sarısülük, was initially sentenced in 2014 to more than seven years in prison for intentional killing under provocation. After two retrials, Şahbaz was sentenced to more than two years in prison, which was converted into a fine of 15,200 Turkish lira (about $2,600).
Several people remain imprisoned in connection with the protests, including philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala, human rights lawyer and former Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) lawmaker Can Atalay, journalist and film producer Çiğdem Mater, city planner Tayfun Kahraman, filmmaker Mine Özerden and talent manager Ayşe Barım.
