Journalist beaten by policemen at Gezi Park protests in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Radikal reporter Gültekin says he was beaten several times.

A journalist was assaulted by police on June 22 during the intervention towards Gezi Park protesters in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

Alpbuğra Bahadır Gültekin, a reporter for Turkish daily Radikal, has told the Daily News that he had been attacked, hit with a baton and kicked at by the police late on June 22, while he was trying to reach home after covering the Gezi Park protests and the police intervention in central Istanbul.

‘I said I was press’

“I insistently said I was press after I was beaten up with a baton by the police officer, whose anger on his face I could so clearly define. His answer in response was to hit me with the baton while swearing at me,” said Gültekin, describing how the assault took place.

Gültekin added that after he fell down on the ground almost all the policemen around hit or kicked him.

He has a swelling eye, bruises on his hips and baton marks on his back.