78 percent of Gezi Park protest detainees were Alevis: Report

ANKARA

More than 5,500 demonstrations or activities were staged within the framework of the country-wide movement dubbed “Gezi protests” that were prolonged for 112 days after being kindled in Taksim Gezi Park at the end of May, according to an analysis report. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Almost 80 percent of protesters detained as part of the Gezi Park protests were Alevis, according to daily Milliyet citing a report by Turkish security and intelligence authorities.

The daily reported that the authorities have prepared a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the anti-governmental protests spread across the country over summer, using detainees as samples.

More than 5,500 demonstrations or activities were staged within the framework of the country-wide movement dubbed “Gezi protests” that were prolonged for 112 days after being kindled in Taksim Gezi Park at the end of May, according to the analysis reported by daily Milliyet columnist Tolga Şardan Nov. 25.

The security forces’ study also sheds light on the characteristics of the protestors, by using more than 5,000 detainees’ personal data as samples to determine the profile of whole movement.
Seventy-eight percent of people detained were Alevis, the report said.

Also according to the analysis, only 12 percent of the suspects are “linked with political parties,” 6 percent of which are involved in “extremist leftist groups,” dubbed as marginal left groups by the Security Directorate. Some 4 percent of them also alleged to be working for “terrorist organizations and their legal organizations affiliated with them.”

Around 3.6 million people attended demonstrations while 5,513 of them have been detained by the police in the 80 provinces the protests erupted in. The Black Sea province Bayburt was reported to be the only province in which no protests were staged, the analysis revealed.

According to a “demographic analysis” conducted by the police, half of the suspects were women.
Around 15 percent of them are primary or secondary school graduates; a quarter of them are high-school graduates, whereas more than half of them have a background in higher education: 25 percent of them are university graduates and 36 percent of them are still studying at universities.

The young profile of the protestors was also affirmed by the police records, as 56 percent of the detained participants are between the ages of 18 and 25 and 26 percent of them are between 26 and 30 years old. Only 1 percent of the suspected protestors are over 40.

When looked to financial conditions, 39 percent of them say their monthly income is between 0 to 499 liras, 15 percent of them say between 500 to 999 liras and of 31 percent were between 1000 to 1999 liras. One fifth of them declared they earn more than 2,000 liras in a month.

Moreover, 189 people have been arrested within the investigation looking into the incidents. 4,329 people, including 697 police officers, have been injured and five people have died.

The research also claims the protests took the heavy toll of approximately 139 million liras.

Damage on business constitutes half of the amount, 74 million Turkish Liras. Damage on police cars come second with 15.5 million liras. The destruction of municipality vehicles and reconditioning pavement also caused a 10 million lira loss each. Public buildings, the Justice Development Party’s (AKP) buildings, private cars, bus stations and traffic signs also received damage during the protests, the report reads.