Turkish police fire water cannon on protesters in funeral march
- 10 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
The protesters in the Osmanbey district of Istanbul were among tens of thousands of mourners who marched through the city on Wednesday (March 12) for the funeral of the 15-year-old boy, Berkin Elvan, who died on Tuesday after spending nine months in a coma.
The funeral ceremony was broadcast live on major television news channels, some of which were criticised for their scant coverage of last June's unrest.
Elvan, then aged 14, got caught up in street battles in Istanbul between police and protesters on June 16 while going to buy bread for his family. He became a rallying point for government opponents, who held vigils at the Istanbul hospital where he lay in intensive care from a head trauma believed to have been caused by a police tear gas canister.
His death has sparked the most extensive street protests since last June, with skirmishes on Tuesday in cities including Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, Samsun on the Black Sea
The protesters in the Osmanbey district of Istanbul were among tens of thousands of mourners who marched through the city on Wednesday (March 12) for the funeral of the 15-year-old boy, Berkin Elvan, who died on Tuesday after spending nine months in a coma.
The funeral ceremony was broadcast live on major television news channels, some of which were criticised for their scant coverage of last June's unrest.
Elvan, then aged 14, got caught up in street battles in Istanbul between police and protesters on June 16 while going to buy bread for his family. He became a rallying point for government opponents, who held vigils at the Istanbul hospital where he lay in intensive care from a head trauma believed to have been caused by a police tear gas canister.
His death has sparked the most extensive street protests since last June, with skirmishes on Tuesday in cities including Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, Samsun on the Black Sea