Tens of thousands of people have joined marches and demonstrations in Istanbul to mark the funeral of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died on Tuesday after 269 days in a coma.
Elvan fell into the coma after being struck in the head by a police tear gas canister as he went to buy bread during a security crackdown in Istanbul’s Okmeydanı neighborhood last June, at the height of the Gezi Park protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to Hurriyet Daily News, which ran live blog of the funeral demonstrations this afternoon, “50,000 people are waiting on Halaskargazi Ave., which links Şişli neighborhood to Taksim. 5,000 people left the main group to visit the cemetery. Another 10,000 people are marching from Okmeydanı neighborhood to Şişli.”
Rallies were also held in other cities across Turkey, with police using water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds who gathered in the capital Ankara.
The Twitter account of Mustafa Varank, one of Erdoğan’s top political advisors, was hacked by activists posting messages in solidarity with the protests for the memory of Elvan.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), warned against possible “dangerous provocations” by the Government to discredit the demonstrations, including the use of violence and even “a made-up assassination attempt” against the Prime Minister.
Kılıçdaroğlu said “I am worried that the funeral and that the protests afterwards could be abused by the government in order to give the impression before the March 30 elections that ‘if he goes, Turkey will roll into a chaos.’”
Erdogan has called the forthcoming local elections a choice between “the old Turkey and the new Turkey.”
Today’s demonstrations follow a confrontation between Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gul over the question of censorship of Twitter and Facebook, with the Prime Minister stating he would be willing to “shut down” both websites.
Writing on Sunday, EA’s Ali Yenidunya observed that “Gul’s emphasis on democracy and freedom is not just a diversion. It is a marker that he is ready to take on the Prime Minister, ahead of March 30 local elections, in an escalating battle for influence.”
The Prime Minister is investing his political future on the ballot boxes, hoping to repair his damaged legitimacy. If he wins, then there is no urgency to proceed with “democratisation”. If he loses, then all sides can mobilize in the fight for power.
The size of today’s protests in solidarity with the memory of Elvan reinforces a trend in which Erdoğan is foregoing support in urban areas to focus on suburban and rural parts of the country.
