Hurriyet Daily News published an article by Murat Yetkin headlined "When is it free to assemble in Turkey?" In the beginning of the article the author narrates the story of a 22-year old Ahmet Atakan, who was killed during a demonstration on September 9 in Antakya, near Turkey’s border with Syria.
"There are conflicting reports about his death," Murat yetkin writes. "The first examination of his body in the hospital that he was first taken to and lost his life in showed that he died due to blunt trauma to the head from a hard object. There are witnesses saying that the object was a tear gas canister that police used in order to disperse the crowd. However, the government’s Forensic Medicine Institute in neighboring Adana says Atakan’s death was due to a fall from on high."
"In any case, if there had been no strong police intervention against the protest, it is possible that there would have been no jostling, confusion and perhaps no death of a young person," he believes.
The author of the article underlines that, according to the Turkish Constitution, freedom of assembly is a right. "However, like many former governments, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government wants to bind authorization to the permission of local authorities, and only permits them in certain (usually far from central) areas, if at all. If the subject is critical of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s policies - whether internal, foreign, or economic - it is not easy for a Turkish citizen to fully enjoy freedom of assembly; of course, that is when we are talking about non-violent assembly," he writes.
"However, there are some examples showing that Turkish citizens can enjoy freedom of assembly in some circumstances. If the demonstration is in support of any government policy - domestic or foreign - say, to protest the coup in Egypt, or the atrocities of the Baath regime in Syria, or the oppression of Palestinians by Israel, Turkish citizens can not only enjoy the right to free assembly, but also enjoy a free ride and free food and drinks, usually provided by AK Parti municipalities or businessmen close to them," the article reads.
"This is not a befitting picture for the Turkish government, which accuses Western governments (often rightfully) about having double standards in similar cases. Turkish people have the right to enjoy the freedom of non-violent assembly, regardless of whether it is in line with the government or not," the author concludes.
