Impressive article on Turkey from Reuters: “These elections are an opportunity for Gezi justice”

As the world press closely followed the electoral excitement in Turkey, the British news agency Reuters published an article noting that the elections to be held on Sunday coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Gezi protests.

“For some Turks, Sunday’s elections are an opportunity to finally bring justice to those who carried out the violent attacks against the Gezi protests,” the article says.

47-year-old minibus driver Hakan Yaman, who was injured by a gas canister during the Gezi protests in Istanbul, lost an eye and underwent many surgeries, said he survived by pretending to be dead during the police intervention and He said: “It’s been 10 years, but no one has been prosecuted. I will not give up until those police officers are punished,” he said.

Noting that the Gezi protests, in which 11 people were killed, more than 8,000 people were injured and more than 3,000 people were detained, were the largest popular uprising against Erdoğan’s 20-year rule, Reuters also included the views of the families of those detained in connection with the demonstrations.

‘CHANCE TO RETURN TO DEMOCRACY’

In the news, it was reported that many people stressed that Kılıçaroğlu’s victory in the elections is an opportunity for the rule of law and a return to democracy.

Reuters also drew attention to the comment by Alper Taş of the Left Party that “those who will vote in the elections owe money to those who died in Gezi and were imprisoned.”

Speaking to the agency, Begüm Özden Fırat, Professor of Sociology at Mimar Sinan University, recalled that different segments of society came together in Gezi, saying: “This offered a way to go beyond the culture wars that are often critical. in Turkish politics. We are enslaved by identity politics, but Gezi brought something new, like a park and like an uprising.”