"My baby brother was the fourth of five brothers and a sister. Ethem was a person who liked to help others and share what he had. Since childhood, he was humble and quiet, although he was also brave and stood up for his rights when needed. He was a talented ironworker. He had always acted together with his fellow ironworkers. Ironworkers in OSTIM (the industrial district) cherished him and backed demonstrations from day one. ... "On the day of Ethem’s funeral, Ankara wanted to express support and show solidarity with their son. But the government and the mayor were too scared of people’s reaction to Ethem’s death. The mayor stopped public transportation and blocked all the roads between Kızılay and Batikent. I see this as yet another attempt of AKP government to prevent people’s right to express themselves, their sorrow, their defiance. People could not get together that day, even though thousands were shouting out slogans and condemning the government for Ethem’s murder. It is a sovereign power’s fear of people’s union and sodality. ... "The demand for freedom and democracy now echoes across Turkey for over 20 days. This strong and genuine call for better days will not quieten. People have seen the real face of Erdoğan and will not put up with him for long. People also demand prompt action for police terror during the demonstrations. Turkish people have been pepper-sprayed, run over, water-sprayed and beaten. Demonstrations are still in full blast in Ankara, Eskişehir, Mersin and so on. Some died (like Ethem), and thousands were wounded… "We, the Sarısülük family, show support to all the people suffering from police oppression. We stand with Dilan (a student, age 20) who had a serious head-neck injury in Ankara last week. Luckily, she is recovering, and getting better every day. We are in contact with the family of Berkin Elvan (a student, age 14) who was a victim of a close-range teargas shooting to his head. We will keep demanding more democracy, more freedom! We insist that authorities identify and punish whoever was responsible for the harsh police oppression! We also demand the release of detained or arrested protesters now!"
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:59:21 +0000
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