IMPORTANT

16 June 2013

16th June 2013, 01.20 pm

The officials who promised to keep Gezi as a park until the end of the court case have turned Gezi Park, Istanbul and our country into a war zone.

We condemn the police assault with rubber bullets, intense teargas and sound bombs on Gezi Park at a time where the park was populated with women, children and the elderly in the evening of the 15th of June and declare this a crime against humanity.

The attacks are continuing around Taksim and neighbouring areas and the whole country.

The infirmaries at Gezi Park and the Divan Hotel have been specific targets of this assault whose intense violence could not even be justified in times of war. Protesters from all areas of Istanbul are walking towards Taksim against government violence. There are protests all over the country.

As we speak we are trying to ascertain numbers in the current assault. The declarations by the governor or police chief are far from convincing. Many people are in police custody and hundreds have been wounded by plastic bullets. Many people cannot reach hospitals.

These attacks have taken place following the meetings our representatives had with the PM and while we were having an open and democratic discussion as to how the process would be shaped from here on in. The attacks have taken place when we had been working on how to reorganise ourselves in the park and at a time where there were no protests whatsoever in Taksim Square. This is a clear indication that the intention of the PM is to intensify polarisation in Turkey and oppress the people with his insatiable lust for authority.

Our decision making processes are open to everyone and we will be following up on our humane and fair demands together with our labour unions, democratic organisations, political parties and our volunteer participants.

We were in the process of reorganising our tents at Gezi Park when the assault took place. Despite this process which had already been conveyed to MPs by artists and other MPs, the violence is an indication that public order has been destroyed by the government itself in our country.

Here are the urgent calls from Taksim Solidarity:

This violent attack by the police forces has to stop immediately. The government is solely responsible for what happens tonight and tomorrow.
The press should publicise our declarations and protect our people from the misinformation of a government at war with its own people.
We are very concerned about those who ended up wounded as a result of this harsh police intervention. Volunteering medics have been stopped from attending to those in need. Ambulance and other public health services should immediately be re-instated.
Tens of thousands of people are walking to Taksim from everywhere in Istanbul. Their voices must be heard.
TAKS?M SOLIDARITY