Mass legal cases awaiting Gezi protesters in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Demonstrators set barricades on fire as they clash with riot police during a protest in Istanbul's Kadikoy district late September 11, 2013. REUTERS/Cevahir Bugu

Mass trials are awaiting people who attended the summer protests in Istanbul that were sparked by a development plan in Taksim’s Gezi Park in May, while at the same time an investigation into the May Day protests has been united with the probe into the Gezi protests, according to Turkish daily Taraf.

The investigation into the Gezi protests in Istanbul has identified around 1,000 suspects, said lawyer Efkan Bolaç, adding that it had been combined with an investigation into the May Day incidents in the city.

Three investigations were opened in Istanbul during the Gezi Park incidents. The first was into the Taksim Solidarity Platform, a group that was opposed to the construction of a shopping mall instead of Gezi Park from the very beginning of the project, the second was more broadly opened into the Gezi protests, while the third was into some of the police officers who intervened in the protests.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Nazmi Okumuş has demanded the testimonies of six people from among the group who held a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the Gezi Park incidents in June. General Secretary of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), Chamber of Architects head Arzu Çerkezoğlu, Eyüp Muhçu, former Chamber of City Planners Istanbul branch head Tayfun Kahraman, Beyoğlu district associations’ head spokesperson Cem Tüzün, Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) secretary Canan Çalağan and Chamber of Architects member Derya Karadağ, will all testify to the police.

Muhçu said they wanted to give their testimony to the prosecutor, but they were told that the police would take it instead.