Police move on Antakya neighborhood for third straight night, one protester severely injured

ANTAKYA / ANKARA - Doğan News Agency

Police entered Armutlu neighborhood to quell protests that erupted after locals buried Ali İsmail Korkmaz, a 19-year-old local who was beaten to death by men in civilian clothing at Gezi protest in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir. DHA photo

Police again moved on the Armutlu neighborhood of Antakya in the southern province of Hatay late July 12 in an effort to stop Gezi Park protesters from marching to the spot where a local demonstrator was killed last month.

The neighborhood has witnessed three straight nights of violence, with eyewitnesses calling the July 12 police intervention the harshest yet. Reports said police moved on Armutlu with riot police, water cannon trucks and a number of plainclothes police officers, adding that one protester hit by a gas canister on his head was severely injured. Dozens of protesters, two police officers and one soldier have also reportedly been injured while one person was taken into custody.

Police failed to enter Armutlu on July 11 to quell protests that erupted after locals buried Ali İsmail Korkmaz, a 19-year-old local who was beaten to death by men in civilian clothing at Gezi protest in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir. 

Armutlu has been a flashpoint in the protests since late May, especially after 22-year-old Abdullah Cömert was shot and killed on a nearby street on June 3.

Ankara sees new crackdown

Police used tear gas and water cannons one more night to quell the protesters gathered at the junction of Kennedy and Atatürk Avenues, which lies half way between Güven Park and Kuğulu Park, the heart of the Gezi gatherings in the Turkish capital.

Police chased the protesters in the side streets of the Kavaklıdere district.