March 4, a Turkish court approved
charges against 16 leading figures from civil society for their alleged role in
The Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013. The accusations are a new low in an already
shameful record in human rights violations committed by the Turkish government.
The demonstrations in 2013 began as an environmental case with the intention of preventing the implementation of the government's plans to remove a small park in the center of Istanbul. Although the demonstrations ended up triggering a larger wave of protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian regime, they were largely peaceful. The Turkish Constitutional Court has also issued several orders confirming the demonstrations were legal.
Nevertheless, Erdogan's government insists that the protests must be seen as an attempted coup. A couple of weeks ago, most of the alleged leaders of the protests were arrested and interrogated, only to be released without charge, but subject to legal action. . .
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