Family, friends remember Gezi victim Ali İsmail Korkmaz on anniversary of death

HATAY/ISTANBUL

Emel Korkmaz cries in front of her son's grave. AA Photo

Ali İsmail Korkmaz, the university student fatally beaten by plainclothes police and civilians during the Gezi protests in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir last year, was commemorated on the anniversary of his death in his hometown Hatay.

Korkmaz’s family, as well as the families of other victims killed during the Gezi events, participated in the commemoration in the southern province July 10, where the crowd gathered at Korkmaz’s monumental grave, built by Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects Chambers (TMMOB).

Gürkan Korkmaz, the victim’s brother, thanked TMMOB officials for the mausoleum.

Hatice Cömert, the mother of Abdullah Cömert, who was killed by a tear gas canister June 3 last year, Emsal Atakan, the mother of Ahmet Atakan, who was also killed in Hatay, and Sayfı Sarısülük, the mother of Ethem Sarısülük, who was shot dead by a policeman in the capital city of Ankara, comforted Ali İsmail’s mother, Emel Korkmaz, who burst into tears.

Another group gathered in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district July 10 to remember the young man, upon a call by a fan group of the Fenerbahçe sports club.

The families of other victims and Songül Elvan, mother of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old who was fatally hit by a tear gas canister during last year’s Gezi protests and died after 10 months in a coma, were present at the ceremony before the participants watched a documentary about Ali İsmail Korkmaz.

The next hearing of the Ali İsmail Korkmaz case will be held in Kayseri on July 14, where the police will be taking major precautions.