JINHA

ISTANBUL – On the second anniversary of the Gezi Park resistance, thousands gathered yesterday at Istiklal Street in Istanbul's Taksim district to commemorate the resistance. Gülsüm Elvan, who lost her 15-year-old son Berkin to a police attack during the repression of the Gezi resistance, spoke at the gathering.

A crowd of thousands marched to Gezi Park yesterday in spite of heavy police presence. All roads leading up to Taksim Square were closed for the day and a police presence outside the French consulate stopped the crowd from entering the square.

Gülsüm Elvan was among those who spoke to the crowd. During the Gezi resistance, 15-year-old Berkin Elvan was struck by a police tear gas capsule to the head in his neighborhood of Okmeydanı as Turkish police repressed a protest there. Berkin became a symbol of resistance as he struggled for life in a coma for 269 days. There has still been no justice in the case. Gülsüm addressed AKP president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from Taksim.

"It was my son who erased your authority," she said. "Let this be a pain to you."

The group left carnations behind at the site. Taksim Gezi Resistance held activities in Özgürlük and Abbasağa Parks later in the day. Groups from across Istanbul's political spectrum joined in forums, concerts and ateliers in the parks.

(ed-dk/dc/fk/cm)