Parks to be named after Gezi victims

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The Çankaya Municipality of the capital city of Ankara plans to name four new parks after the protesters who lost their lives during the Gezi Park protests, in addition to naming another park “Taksim Gezi Parkı,” after the park where the protests first began.

The decision to name the new parks after protesters Ethem Sarısülük, Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert and police officer Mustafa Sarıwas, was taken at a recent session of the municipality.

Çaldıran Park to become Ethem Sarısülük Park

There was already a demand for the name of Çaldıran Park to be changed to “Ethem Sarısülük Park,” following an initiative launched by forum participants gathering at that park, in a bid to honor Sarısülük who was shot dead by a police officer during the Gezi protests in Ankara. “Our brothers that we bid farewell to will live on in our parks like they do in our minds,” Çankaya Mayor Bülent Tanık said in a written statement released on July 2.