13th anniversary of Gezi Park protests marked in Taksim
A crowd gathered in Beyoğlu, İstanbul yesterday to mark the 13th anniversary of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, one of the largest mass protests in the history of Turkey.
The demonstration was held at 7.00 pm on Mis Street, a side street leading to İstiklal Avenue. The gathering took place despite a official ban and widespread transportation restrictions.
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Hours before the event, called by the Taksim Solidarity group, police blockaded Taksim Square, İstiklal Avenue and the surrounding areas in line with a demonstration ban in the district. Public transit lines and several roads were also closed.
The protest was attended by lawmakers, representatives from political parties, labor and professional organizations, and democratic civil society groups. Among the participants was Gülsüm Elvan, the mother of 14 year old Berkin Elvan, who lost his life during the Gezi protests after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by police in Okmeydanı.
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Demonstrators carried placards reading "Justice for Gezi" that featured photos of the imprisoned defendants of the Gezi trial. The crowd chanted slogans including "Taksim is everywhere, resistance is everywhere," "A thousand greetings to those who fell and fought in Gezi," and "We are Gezi, we will come again."
Gülsüm Elvan addressed the crowd first. "One day we will definitely break this blockade and commemorate our children by leaving carnations at Gezi. Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, Çiğdem Mater, Osman Kavala, and Tayfun Kahraman will also be with us," Elvan said.
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Following Elvan's speech, the crowd held a moment of silence for those who lost their lives during the Gezi resistance. The names of Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Ethem Sarısülük, Abdullah Cömert, Medeni Yıldırım, Hasan Ferit Gedik, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Ahmet Atakan, and Berkin Elvan were read out one by one, alongside journalist Hakan Tosun, who was killed in October. The crowd responded to each name by shouting "He lives."
Full text of the statement titled “The Gezi Resistance continues to light our way! Gezi is not just a park—it is a call for justice!” read by Aydan Adanır Usta, Secretary of the TMMOB Istanbul Provincial Coordination Council:
Today is May 31, 2026... The 13th anniversary of the most spectacular popular movement in our country’s history. Today marks the anniversary of Gezi—where, while defending a park, the call for democracy, peace, justice, and a social state opposed to profiteering converged in tents, forums, squares, rallies, and communal meals, fueled by creative ingenuity, the enthusiasm of the youth, and the determination of women.
Today is May 31, 2026… Today is the day when millions of citizens across 80 provinces took to the streets against those who turned a deaf ear to the demands and expectations of those who wanted the park to remain a park, and when their democratic response echoed loudly.
Today is May 31, 2026… Today is the day we remember Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Ethem Sarısülük, Abdullah Cömert, Medeni Yıldırım, Hasan Ferit Gedik, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Ahmet Atakan, and Berkin Elvan—those we lost in the Gezi resistance, whose names will echo everywhere from those trees to the city squares… a day when the memories of our brothers and sisters—whom we have not forgotten and will never let be forgotten—will be kept alive.
Today, May 31, 2026… A day that aims to spread fear and anxiety among the public regarding democratic responses by demonstrating that even the most democratic, participatory, and peaceful protests will be met with harsh prison sentences;
Through unlawful, evidence-free, and illogical trials based on the absurd claim that unarmed, unorganized, and strangers to one another could stage a coup—resulting in decades-long prison sentences for our friends, comrades, and brothers and sisters who remain imprisoned to this day; Today is the day to show solidarity with businessman Osman Kavala, Tayfun Kahraman, President of the Istanbul Branch of the Chamber of Urban Planners, Şerafettin Can Atalay, the authorized lawyer of the Chamber of Architects, and foundation employees Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden, and to proclaim their innocence…
Today is May 31, 2026… Today is the day when those who take orders from no one and give orders to no one—those who open infirmaries and libraries through solidarity, who erect barricades when necessary—students, housewives, fan groups, unionized workers, non-union white-collar workers who go to work by day and join the resistance at night, the unemployed, the retired, the Turk, the Kurd, the Armenian, the Alevi, and the Sunni—the day when the entire people rise up…
Today is May 31, 2026… Today marks the day to remember and understand Gezi—the first harbinger of the process we are currently in, a process that not only seeks to remove our country from the ranks of democratic nations despite its flaws but also drags us toward the construction of an authoritarian and militaristic regime, distancing us from the gains of the century-old Republic, universal legal norms, and the fundamental rights of citizens
Today is May 31, 2026… It is a day to remember and reflect on how the Gezi protests marked the first steps toward a regime that would not only remove our country from the ranks of democratic nations—despite its poor track record—but also distance it from the achievements of the century-old Republic, universal legal norms, and the fundamental rights of citizens, leading us toward the construction of an authoritarian and militaristic regime. And the sudden imprisonment of a journalist who tweets or an academic who objects—the first steps of which were taken in the Gezi trials—is a day to remember and remind others,
Today is May 31, 2026… It is a day to remember and remind others that the first steps toward appointing a trustee to the main opposition party—through decisions by “party-affiliated judges and prosecutors” that serve the interests of those in power, a natural consequence of the party-affiliated presidential system—and toward the easy removal from office of elected mayors through arrests based on implausible evidence, and the sudden imprisonment of a journalist who tweets or an academic who objects—the first steps of which were taken in the Gezi trials—is a day to remember and remind others of these events,
Today is May 31, 2026… The 13th anniversary of keeping in mind that the first objection to the declaration of the entire country as a mining zone—allowing every area to be easily handed over to mining companies, even hospital lands in the heart of cities being included in privatization plans, and the plundering of nature being taken to an entirely new level—was raised in Gezi…
Today is May 31, 2026… Today, millions of young people are trapped in a vortex of unemployment and a lack of future, being pushed into gambling and drug addiction, and encouraged to engage in mafia-like relationships; where femicides show no signs of slowing down, where LGBTI+ individuals are demonized, and where universities can be shut down overnight and individuals notorious for incompetence can be appointed to the highest positions—this is the day when the direction this governing mindset would lead the country was exposed years ago at Gezi Park…
Today is May 31, 2026… It is time to remember Gezi and reflect on the values it defended! Because; Gezi is not just a park—it is a demand for justice. It is the exposure of a politicized judiciary that hands down decades-long prison sentences without law, evidence, or justification. Gezi is a barricade erected early on against the plundering of every resource—from stones and soil to seas, rivers, public lands, and both above- and below-ground resources… Gezi is another name for the people’s defense of elections, elected officials, the right to vote, democracy, and secularism. Gezi is the address of resistance against the normalization of anti-democratic practices, violence directed at the people, and the reckless use of pepper spray. Gezi is the overcoming of walls of fear and the contagious spread of courage. Gezi is the name of the shared history of resistance where the democratic response to politics draws strength from the energy of the youth and the determination of women, and where the representatives of speech, music, dance, folk songs, art, and sports come together. And today, May 31, 2026… The Gezi Resistance continues to illuminate our path!
(VC/VK)
