They say all he wanted was some fresh bread,
He definitely didn’t want to get hit in the head,
This affair’s quite murky,
There’s anger in Turkey,
The Prime Minister’s reputation is hanging by a thread.
“We do not have a government, we have Tayyip Erdogan,” said a Turkish protester last year. The tens of thousands of angry people who gathered for the funeral of fifteen-year-old Berkin Elvan earlier this month agreed. The young boy had become a symbol of government and police brutality.
What happened to Berkin?
It was the height of protests in Istanbul last summer, when Berkin, then fourteen, stepped out of his house to buy bread from a nearby shop. Before he had a chance to make his purchase, he was struck in the head by a police tear gas canister. Berkin Elvan remained in coma for the next 269 days. He died on March 11, weighing lesser than 10 kilos.
Why are Turkish people unhappy?
The entire country was already extremely unhappy with the authoritarian style of governance by their Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The fuse finally blew when it was announced that one of Istanbul’s last green spaces, Gezi Park, was to be converted into a shopping mall.
This move was unpopular with the public, and the government’s stubbornness sparked off massive protests across the country. People were unhappy with the lack of freedom of press, the removal of public spaces such as Gezi Park, and promotion of Islamism.
When Berkin was attacked, the protest was at its height. The police forces were trying to suppress the demonstrations and there was a lot of violence. Many had died already, but the injury of the young boy was seen as a harsh proof of government brutality, and triggered even more protests this month.
Why did the police attack the boy?
PM Erdogan further angered the public by suggesting that Berkin was linked to terrorist organisations. He said that the death of a boy who “had marbles in his pocket, a slingshot in his hand, and a scarf on his face” was “unfortunate”. However, Berkin’s parents and most others rubbish these allegations. Though it has been almost a year, human rights organisations say that no effective investigation has been carried out so far.
Is Turkey better off now?
Hardly. In fact, things seem to have gotten worse, even though protests had become less intense. You may have read that the Turkish government, which already censors much of the Internet, is attempting to ban Twitter, in an attempt to prevent people from planning protests and badmouthing it. It is unlikely that the people of Turkey take this lightly.
nandita.j@thehindu.co.in
