RIGHTS
Date published: 18 March 2020 12:48
Modified On: 18 March 2020 13:00

Ali İsmail Korkmaz Would be 26 Years Old If He Were Alive Today

Killed by police officers and a group of civilians in Eskişehir during Gezi Resistance in 2013, Ali İsmail Korkmaz would turn 26 if he were alive today.

İstanbul
Ali İsmail Korkmaz Would be 26 Years Old If He Were Alive Today

"I never forget, I never forget
Do not ever forget!
How else a person resists
So that it will not be forgotten..."

* Photo: Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish

Today, March 18, is the birthday of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who was beaten to death by police officers and a group of civilians in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir during Gezi Resistance in 2013.

To mark his birthday, several social media users have posted messages under the hashtags #İyikiDoğdunAliİsmail (Happy Birthday Ali İsmail), #AliİsmailKorkmaz and #Hep19Yaşında (He is always 19 years old).

Gürkan Korkmaz, the elder brother of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, has also written, "He is Always 19 Years Old! If he were alive he would be 26... Happy birthday İsmail; How happy that your life crossed ours..."

Ali İsmail Korkmaz was born in Turkey's east Mediterranean province of Hatay. In 2013, he was a 19-year-old first-grader at the Department of English Teaching in Eskişehir Anadolu University.

On June 3, 2013, he attended a protest demonstration in Eskişehir to support Gezi Park resistance in İstanbul. The police attacked the protesters with gas bombs. When he escaped, he was attacked by a group of police officers and civilians with sticks. He was taken to a hospital, where he slipped into a coma on June 4. He lost his life on July 10, 2013.

Some of the messages shared on social media are as follows:

'He is always 19 years old'

Gürkan Korkmaz (elder brother of Ali İsmail Korkmaz)

"He is Always 19 Years Old!
If he were alive he would be 26...
Happy birthday Ali İsmail; How happy that your life crossed ours... "

Barış Yarkadaş (Former main opposition CHP MP - journalist)

Arabic Alevi Assemblies

"Our brother, fellow, dear, who was battered by violence-addict, bootlicking murderers in human disguise, who did not care about whether they hit a human or not just because they took an order... Happy birthday"

Republican People's Party (CHP) Buca Youth Assembly

"There are such dead people that... Whenever I think that they are dead, I get ashamed of being alive. He is Always 19 Years Old..!! Happy birthday, beautiful person"

What happened?

Ali İsmail Korkmaz, a freshman in English teaching at Anadolu University, attended Gezi Resistance demonstrations in the central province of Eskişehir on June 3.

He was battened by a group of casually-dressed people, as he was running away from a police intervention with gas bombs.

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 on transferred to Osmangazi Medical School Hospital. Undergoing a surgical operation there, Ali İsmail Korkmaz was unresponsive since June 4, 2015, and lost his life on July 10 after 38 days of coma.

Judicial process

In the lawsuit filed into the killing of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, eight people were put on trial. While four of these eight people were police officers, one police officer and four civilians were arrested pending trial.

The court announced its ruling in the eighth hearing on January 21, 2015. The prison sentences were given on charge of "causing death by deliberate injury" and good conduct abatement was applied to their prison sentences. The arrested police officer, was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in prison and the other four arrested people were sentenced to three years, four months in prison.

The court ruled that arrested police officer Mevlüt Saldoğan committed the offense of "causing death by deliberate injury", rather than "deliberate murder" and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. However, his prison term was reduced to 10 years, 10 months.

On December 22, 2016, the 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the prison sentence of Mevlüt Saldoğan as well as the 10-year prison sentence of police officer Yalçın Akbulut and the prison sentences of six years, eight months given to released defendants İsmail Koyuncu, Ramazan Koyuncu and Muhammet Vatansever.

(TP/SD)

gezi Eskîşehîr Eskişehir ali ismail korkmaz Gezî birthday
https://bianet.org/haber/ali-ismail-korkmaz-would-be-26-years-old-if-he-were-alive-today-221560
2024-05-18 06:16:21