Taksim Solidarity pays Eid visits to families

ISTANBUL

14-year-old Berkin Elvan, who has been in a coma since mid-June after being struck by a tear gas capsule fired by police during the Gezi protests in Istanbul. Hürriyet photo

A group of Taksim Solidarity Platform members paid an Eid visit to the family of 14-year-old Berkin Elvan, who has been in a coma since mid-June after being struck by a tear gas capsule fired by police during the Gezi protests in Istanbul.

The group from the platform, which took a leading role during the protests that continued for more than a month, met with Berkin’s father, Sami Elvan, on the second day of Eid at the Okmeydanı hospital where the comatose protester is being treated.

“We’re celebrating the feast with heavy hearts today, because Berkin has been comatose for 123 days,” Gürkan Akgün, the spokesperson for the Istanbul branch of Chamber of Urban Planners, told reporters in front of the hospital.

“People who are longing for a better, more peaceful, more democratic world are faced with police violence. We lost a lot of friends. Many of them became disabled. However we believe that these ‘other world’ dreams will come true. We’re with Berkin today,” he said. 

The group also visited Gökhan Aktaş, one of the leftist protestors who were shot while protesting drug dealing gangs in Istanbul’s Gülsuyu neighborhood.