Erdogan arrests grandmothers as well
(8 years ago)This photo where two police officers arrested an 82-year-old grandmother in Constantinople took a walk online. Emine Ottak's criminal act? He has been peacefully protesting for 23 years, seeking answers to the disappearance of his son Hasan Otttak, who disappeared while he was under police arrest in Constantinople in the year [...]
Emine Ottak's criminal act? He has reacted peacefully for 23 years, seeking answers to the disappearance of his son Hasan Otttak, who disappeared while he was under police arrest in Constantinople in 1995.
It's the “Shabat nines”, composed of relatives of political activists who disappeared in Turkey in the years 5080 and 5090s, who have been gathering every Saturday since May 1995 for a symbolic “rigily” in the symbolic neighbourhood “Beyoğlus>. This week, 700 such gatherings ended.
On Saturday, police arrested more than 20 demonstrators and used tear gas to disperse other people who halted the march and protested sitting in Istanbul.
With flowers in their hands and pictures of their loved ones, mothers started their march on “Square. Galatasaray”, in the commercial area of Istikos Beyoglu. They wore T-shirts and a table with the “Novembers of Saturday”.
Several members of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and members of the pro-Kurdish People's Party (HDP) also attended the protest.
Authorities had banned the rally this week, citing the lack of official holiday and the organisation's links to “the PKK terrorist organisation”.
Police officials blocked the road in Galatasaray and pushed protesters down the track, while some shouted with slogans like” Under Fascism! ”
Saturday's mothers call for justice for their relatives, who either disappeared or were killed after the military coup in 1980 and during the emergency period in the early 1990s, especially in Kurdish regions.
Current President Recep Tayip Erdogan met with members of this organisation in 2011 when he was prime minister.
