Police Department moves to build station in Istanbul neighborhood hit by unrest: Report

ISTANBUL - Radikal

Police organized several raids in Istanbul's Gülsuyu neighborhood following the death of a protester during a fight between leftist groups and drug dealers on Sept. 30. AA photo

The Istanbul Police Department and the Istanbul Governor’s Office is moving to build a police station in the Gülsuyu neighborhood where a protester was killed during a fight between leftist groups and drug dealers on Sept. 30, daily Radikal reported today.

The neighborhood located on a hill in the Asian-side district of Maltepe was also publically known as an area where security forces were unable to enter. 

The Police Department first decided to patrol the neighborhood 24 hours a day with armored vehicles and water-cannon trucks (TOMAs) in an attempt to erase the conception that the area was a no-go zone and prevent tensions from rising further, according to Radikal.

Following a meeting with the governor’s office, the police launched works to determine a parcel of land where the police station will be built. The construction of the station is set to start immediately, the report said. 

Residents, however, are expected to bang pots and pans to demand the police leave the neighborhood.

In the wake of the deadly clashes, Istanbul police staged several dawn raids in Gülsuyu and Gazi Mahallesi on Istanbul’s European side, inhabited by a large Alevi community.

19 people arrested 

A total of 19 people have been arrested pending trial, including an elderly woman who made headlines during the Gezi protests when she was photographed firing at the police with a sling shot. Emine Cansever, dubbed “the sling-shot auntie,” was also seen patrolling the Gülsuyu neighborhood with a mask on her face during the recent unrest.

Sixteen other people have been released. 

Hasan Ferit Gedik, 21, was killed after suspected gang members strafed leftist protesters with bullets on Sept. 30. The man’s family members subsequently accused plainclothes police officers of attempting to destroy evidence at the hospital to which his body was taken.