Turkish Police Detain 170 in Gezi Park Protests Anniversary

Some 170 people, including journalists, were detained on Tuesday after Turkish police aggressively prevented people from marking the ninth anniversary of the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.

The crowd was not allowed to enter Taksim Square and Gezi Park and police used violence to stop demonstrators, with barricades, tear gas and batons.

The crowd chanted slogans including: "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance", "Don't obey, lay claim to your country", and "No to sharia, fascism and darkness".

Police also detained journalists who were following the protests.

According to the Journalists' Union of Turkey, six journalists were detained and several of them were injured, including Bulent Kilic, an AFP award-winning photojournalist.

⚡️ #Taksim Gezi Parkı eylemlerinin 9. yıl dönümünde 6 gazeteci gözaltına alındı, pek çok meslektaşımız polis şiddetine maruz kaldı. Protesto da gazetecilik de suç değildir. Sorumlular hakkında işlem yapılsın, meslektaşlarımız serbest bırakılsın! #Gezi9Yasinda pic.twitter.com/6EKwokRfmK

— Gazeteciler Sendikası (@TGS_org_tr) May 31, 2022

"Journalism during a protest is not a crime. Free our collegues," the union said, calling on the authorities to open investigations against the police officers.

The Gezi Park Protests in 2013 started in defence of a park near Taksim Square that the Istanbul authorities planned to build on.

In a short time, the protests grew into a nationwide outpouring of anger against the increasingly authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They became a nationwide challenge to Erdogan, and were met by a police crackdown in which at least nine people died, and thousands were injured and detained.

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