The parents of Berkin Elvan, a teenager who was killed during Turkey’s 2013 anti-government Gezi Park protests, have been handed down suspended sentences on conviction of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Gülsüm and Sami Elvan, the parents of Berkin Elvan, stood a years-long trial due to their remarks holding Erdoğan responsible for the killing of their son.
Berkin was struck in the head with a tear gas canister fired by a police officer during the Gezi Park protests in İstanbul and subsequently succumbed to his injuries
An İstanbul court sentenced Sami Elvan, the boy’s father, to 14 months in prison and his mother, Gülsüm, to 11 months. The court suspended the sentences, meaning that the defendants will not serve their sentences unless they commit a repeat offense within a set period.
Gülsüm Elvan denied the accusation in her defense statement.
“I did not insult anyone. It was my cry of pain,” she said. “They ignored the insults directed at me. Those responsible [for Berkin’s death] were not punished. They searched my house, issued threats. Am I still the one at fault? The more I demanded justice, the more I was denied it.”
Elvan, who became one of the symbols of the Gezi Park protests, died on March 11, 2014 after remaining in a coma for 269 days. He was 14 when he was injured and 15 when he passed away.
The protests in 2013 erupted over government plans to demolish Gezi Park in the Taksim neighborhood of İstanbul. They quickly turned into mass anti-government demonstrations that were violently suppressed by the government, leading to the death of 11 protestors due to the use of disproportionate force by the police.
Gülsüm Elvan, who held then-prime minister Erdoğan responsible for Berkin’s death because he ordered the police to use excessive force to suppress the protests, was attacked by Erdoğan at a public rally in 2014. Erdoğan branded Berkin a terrorist and let the crowd boo the woman.
In 2021 the İstanbul 17th High Criminal Court sentenced police officer Fatih Dalgalı, the only suspect in the case, to 16 years, eight months in prison.
The court did not arrest Dalgalı but put him under judicial supervision and imposed a travel ban.
Dalgalı will start serving his time if the Supreme Court of Appeals upholds his sentence.
In February the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found a rights violation in the death of Elvan, saying the Turkish authorities failed to conduct an effective investigation into government officials’ possible roles in the death of the teenager.
The mass protests that rocked the country in 2013 started over plans to demolish Gezi Park, one of the rare green spaces in central İstanbul.
The anger quickly spiraled into broader protests against Erdoğan over his authoritarian policies, such as controlling the media and the judiciary.