'Ali is gone, but has left a legacy for us'

Photo: ALİKEV

Click to read the article in Turkish

Today is the seventh anniversary of the death of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who was killed after spending 38 days in coma after being beaten by police officers and government supporters in Eskişehir province during the 2013 Gezi Park resistance. He was one of the 10 people who died during the protests.

CLICK - Gezi is seven years old

Emel Korkmaz, the mother of İsmail, told daily BirGün that "I still can't dream [of him]. I want him to say, 'Mommy, I'm okay.' He was resilient seven years ago, he died while [we were] hoping that he would come back. I visit my baby every Friday. I just touch his soil. I talk to my son."

"Ali is gone but he has left a legacy for us. Hundreds of children are educated under Ali's name. They make Ali's ideas, the things he wanted to do live. Doing these gives us hope" she said, referring to the Ali İsmail Korkmaz Foundation (ALİKEV), which was founded after his death.

ALİKEV will hold a live broadcast on YouTube at 8.30 p.m. to commemorate Ali İsmail. Twitter users are also commemorating Korkmaz under #AliİsmailKorkmaz hashtag.

Bugün günlerden Ali İsmail Korkmaz!⁰⁰
Şimdi ismin memleketin dört bir yanında yaşamı ve umudu savunmanın adı oldu. Attığımız her adımda, aldığımız her nefeste yüreğimizdesin. Düşlerindeki özgür dünya için çalışmaktan vazgeçmeyeceğiz.#Aliismailkorkmaz #OHep19Yaşında pic.twitter.com/woCmcXC4P4

— Ali İsmail K. Vakfı (@Alikev_org) July 10, 2020

What happened?

Ali İsmail Korkmaz attended the Gezi protests on June 3, 2013, in the central province of Eskişehir, where he studied at the department of English Teaching at Anadolu University.

He was beaten by a group of casually-dressed people as he was running away from the police, who were using tear gas against protesters.

Arriving at Yunus Emre Public Hospital, Korkmaz allegedly was not admitted by officials who told him to testify to police headquarters initially.

Similarly, officials refused to admit him the next morning. Korkmaz struggled to find a police station to testify with his situation worsening.

Finally, he was admitted to Eskişehir Public Hospital and diagnosed with "brain hemorrhage". He was later transferred to Osmangazi Medical School Hospital.

Operated, Korkmaz was unresponsive since June 4, 2013, and lost his life on July 10, 2013, after 38 days of coma.

His family filed complaints against Yunus Emre Public Hospital and a prosecutor launched an investigation into the case. (TP/VK)