Saturday 7 July: Police attacks people on Istiklal Street.
Taksim Gezi Park has been closed to the public since June 15th. From that time onwards, the police has been patrolling the park, ‘protecting’ a public space from ‘the people’. Taksim Solidarity called for a rally yesterday at 7pm in Taksim Gezi Park to serve notice to the authorities of a court decision that has annulled redevelopment plans for Gezi Park and the larger vicinity of Taksim Square. Police did not wait until the scheduled 7pm demonstration and attacked groups of protesters an hour in advance with water cannons, plastic bullets and pepper gas. Earlier in the afternoon, before the 7pm demo, a group of feminists had gathered in Galatasaray and marched to Taksim to protest police violence and sexual harassment. Meanwhile another group of protestors had gathered in Taksim Square with plastic water-guns to mock the ongoing excessive use of water-cannons by the police.
Police attacks spread out to the areas around Taksim: Tünel, Galatasaray, Cihangir, Sıraselviler Street, İstiklal Street, and Beyoğlu’s side streets. A gang of machete and cleaver-wielding civilians attacked protesters in the Talimhane area with backing from the police. The police attacks continued into the early hours of the morning, and the Istanbul Bar Association has reported that 52 people were taken into custody since last night. There were incidents which have proved that the police treated journalists in a particularly brutal manner. Beaten, clubbed or shot with plastic bullets, it is reported that at least 10 journalists were assaulted by the police.
The governor of Istanbul announced yesterday, only few hours before the 7pm gathering, that the park will be re-opened for public use on 7 July (today). It still remains unclear who will open the park, for whom and when exactly.
Videos from yesterday’s attacks… Continue reading →
