Court rules faulty for man who lost eye during Gezi protests in Ankara

ANKARA

An Ankara court ruled “faulty” for a man who lost his eye during the Gezi protests in 2013 at the Turkish capital and also fined the Interior Ministry, daily Cumhuriyet has reported.  

Muharrem Dalsüren, who was working as cleaning worker in Ankara’s Çankaya municipality, lost an eye after being hit by a tear gas cannister shot by a police officer during the Gezi Park protests on Sakarya Street on June 3, 2013. 

Dalsüren filed a complaint and demanded 283,000 Turkish Liras for physical damage and 100,000 liras for spiritual damages.

However, the Ankara court decided Dalsüren was 20 percent “at fault,” suggesting he had acted imprudently.

Due to “staying in an unsafe area and acting inappropriately to the point of endangering his own personal safety,” the court found him faulty by 20 percent. 

Meanwhile, the court ruled that the Interior Ministry pay 122,000 liras of compensation after finding the authorities 50 percent faulty for “using the tear gas cannister in a way that could hit demonstrators in the head.”