Taksim Solidarity: We Will Defend Gezi

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Ahead of the sixth hearing of Gezi trial to be held on February 18, Taksim Solidarity platform held a statement for the press at the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Chamber of Architects Büyükkent Branch in Karaköy, İstanbul today (February 11).

The prosecutor announced his opinion as to the accusations in Gezi trial on February 6 and requested prison sentences for all defendants.

Businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala, the only arrested defendant of the case, Yiğit Aksakoğlu and Mücella Yapıcı face aggravated life sentences, as demanded by the prosecutor.

CLICK - Gezi Trial: Prosecutor Requests Aggravated Life Sentence for Kavala, Yapıcı, Aksakoğlu

Reading out the statement for the press regarding the judicial process of Gezi trial, Mücella Yapıcı said, "If they are looking for a culprit, then they should look for it in the deaths of Berkin Elvan, Ethem Sarısülük, Abdullah Cömert, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Medeni Yıldırım, Hasan Ferit Gedik and Ahmet Atakan."

After Yapıcı concluded the statement by saying "We have defended and will defend Gezi", the audience gave a standing ovation for minutes.

Following the statement, defendants of the case Tayfun Kahraman, a member of the City Planners Executive Board, and Can Atalay, the attorney of Chamber of Architects, as well as Cevahir Efe Akçelik from the TMMOB İstanbul Provincial Council and Turkish Medical Chamber (TTB) Vice Chair Ali Çerkezoğlu addressed the audience.

CLICK - Who is Charged with What in Prosecutor's Opinion?

'Gezi is a clean slate in the history of democracy'

"We are standing trial due to the feast of democracy that we were in, we are standing trial because we were at Gezi Park, where we expressed our democratic demands for rights", said Tayfun Kahraman and added:

"Even though we stand trial today, you cannot give a bad name to Gezi. Gezi will always remain as a clean slate in Turkey's history of democracy."

'We will not bow to the criminalization of Gezi'

Can Atalay also underlined that no one could face charges or stand trial because they fulfilled their responsibilities stemming from their professions:

"What brought millions side by side in Gezi was the roughness of Erdoğan government as well as the determination and resolution of millions of citizens to claim their own fates. We did not and will not bow to the criminalization of Gezi resistance or to the disregard of the law."

'We will claim the will of living together'

Taking the floor after Atalay, Cevahir Efe Akçelik underscored that they regarded the judicial process as a violation of law and stated the following:

"What the AKP expects from this case is to put pressure on society and to criminalize the opposition based on its self-proclaimed definition of terrorism and the rubbish of external powers that it has not abandoned for 18 years. Gezi signifies the will of laying claim to the tree, forest, public space, human rights and freedoms in this land. What makes the AKP afraid is the will of collective life. We will keep on claiming this right."

'We are not only physicians, but citizens'

Taking the floor after Akçelik, Ali Çerkezoğlu emphasized the importance of bringing the solidarity at Gezi Park to the Gezi trial in Silivri:

"We, physicians, were in Gezi not solely for medical treatment. We are physicians and if there is a wounded person around us, our primary duty is to treat that person. However, our existence is not only about being a physician, we are also citizens.

"It does not matter whether they are workers, pensioners, unemployed, women, young, doctors or engineers... Just like every other person, we - not as physicians, but as citizens - are responsible for expressing our reactions and rage against the plunder of the country's parks, nature and cities, against undemocratic acts, against arbitrariness and the systems that make people unable to breathe. We did it and we will do it again.

"It is - without a doubt - not a medical debate, but if you try to choke a living organism, it draws its last breath with rage and reaction. No one cranes one's neck to an executioner, no one just surrenders in the face of a microbe.

"What happened in Gezi was that. Millions of people in 81 provinces thought 'if they begrudged a tiny Gezi Park to us in a city engulfed in concrete like İstanbul, if they ignored our demand and could not even tolerate it, what would this mindset do to us?' Then, millions of people took to the streets and claimed their demand for their park and for a democratic country as a whole."

'We have to spread this case to 81 provinces like Gezi'

"The legal ground has disappeared in this judicial process. There is - without a doubt - so much to do. But, when we look at it closely, it is obvious that it is no legal trial. If that is the case, then we once again see that what needs to be done here is not only presenting our grounds based on legal arguments, but also laying claim to this trial, just as we did to Gezi Park.

"It is our duty to ensure that this issue is not solely about our friends standing trial. We have to spread this case to 81 provinces. Just as we stood shoulder to shoulder in Gezi, we also need to resolutely stand shoulder to shoulder in this trial. Just as everywhere was Taksim, everywhere was resistance, then everywhere is Silivri, everywhere is resistance now and it is just the beginning, the struggle will continue."

From the joint statement: You cannot erase the truth

Some highlights from the joint statement for the press read out by Mücella Yapıcı were as follows:

"Just to spite the ones who repress the truth with its police, judiciary and media and try to rewrite the history, we will keep on crying out the truths. Because we know that if democracy comes to this country one day, it will take its strength from the egalitarian, libertarian and peaceful togetherness of Gezi. Even when you put millions on trial, you cannot erase that truth.

"We will never let you turn Gezi resistance into a protest associated with crimes, terror, coup and insurrection. We have to defend Gezi to the end for our losses whose names are not even mentioned in this trial."

(TP/SD)