Turkish police offer marching protesters a ride

ANTALYA – Doğan News Agency

Four young men set off on their “march for justice” on July 18, from Antalya’s Cumhuriyet Square to Istanbul’s Gezi Park. One of them had to give up the march due to health problems. DHA photo

Local police officers offered a ride to four young Turkish men, who began a march from the Mediterranean province of Antalya to Istanbul’s Gezi Park in a bid to protest the loss of lives and the violence used during the Gezi Protests across the country.

The police officers, who had started to escort the protesters on the second day of their march, in the southern province of Burdur’s Bucak district, offered to drive the men to Burdur, until the ramps in the route were over, telling them they could pretend to have marched the full route. However, the protesters turned down the police’s offer.

The police team was in charge of accompanying the young men, Kadir Canbek, Ulaş Çakar, Canberk Apiş and Batuhan Yücel, to provide a secure march on the interprovincial route within their area of responsibility.

“They [the police] said you can pretend as if you had marched all the way and continue your march,” Canbek said, adding that the policemen were trying to help them.

The young men set off on their “march for justice” on July 18, from Antalya’s Cumhuriyet Square, and aim to complete their longer than 750-kilometer march to Istanbul’s Gezi Park in approximately 30 days, following a route through Burdur, Afyonkarahisar and Eskişehir, finally reaching the heart of the protests, which started late May, at Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

However, one of the protesters, Yücel, had to give up the march due to an edema in his foot.