Taksim Solidarity Platform condemns brutal raid, says hundreds are injured

ISTANBUL

Injured protesters take shelter at the Divan hotel, which faces the Harbiye entrance of Gezi Park. The hotel itself was encircled by the police who fired several times tear gas inside its doors. REUTERS photo

The Taksim Solidarity Platform that represents the Gezi Park protesters has condemned the brutal police crackdown on the Taksim Square, adding that hundreds of people were injured and many had been detained. The platform also contradicted the officials’ statements that said that 44 people were injured, adding that Istanbul’s governor “had lost all credibility.” It also said that police showed a “warlike violence” during the attack.

“There are dozens of injured shot with rubber bullets or who couldn’t go to the hospital,” the platform said in a statement today adding that infirmaries set up at Divan hotel which stands at the Harbiye entrance of Gezi Park.

“The attack with rubber bullets, intense tear gas and stun grenades at a moment when there were a lot of women, kids and elderly people were at the park is a crime against humanity,” the statement said. 

Police’s heavy-handed attack to evacuate Gezi Park came only an hour after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ultimatum to protesters, giving them a day to end demonstrations. Protesters had earlier decided to continue their sit-in at the park and debating on limiting the number of tents at the park. 

The Taksim Solidarity Platform called on the end of police intervention that was underway nearly six hours after the evacuation of the park. “The brutal attack of the security forces should be stopped. The government will be the sole responsible of what will happen today and tomorrow,” the platform said. 
The platform also appealed for letting the injured to be provided help by doctors. “[Police] should stop preventing the works of volunteer doctors,” it also added. 

“This attack that took place at a moment when there was no demonstration at the park shows that the prime minister’s intention is to increase the social polarization and satisfy his ambition of authority by oppressing his people,” the statement also said. 

Representatives of the Taksim Solidarity Platform, had a late night meeting with Erdoğan on June 13 where they have reached a compromise on the government’s commitment to a court ruling that bars the construction of a leaisure complex at Gezi Park. Erdoğan had then called on the protesters to end their sit-in, adding that their message on preserving the park untouched had been received.