Turkish police prevent citizens from commemorating the first anniversary of the Ankara Massacre, which killed over 100 people on 15 October 2015. Citing ‘security,’ officers detain dozens of people amid tension around the center of the city

 

One year to the day since Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators as they lay dying outside Ankara’s Main Station following the country’s worst-ever terrorist attack, officers again deployed force to stop citizens from marking the first anniversary of the incident.

Officers acting at the behest of the Presidential Palace formed a tight cordon to prevent demonstrators from around the country from commemorating the 101 people who were killed on 15 October 2015 when two Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bombers detonated themselves at the beginning of the Labor, Peace and Democracy Rally.

“We are here so that we do not shed our tears alone at home. We don’t think that what we have experienced today at the police barricades is any different than the massacre last year,” said Mehtap Sakinci Coşkun, the head of the 10 October Association. “We don’t want revenge but peace. What more do you want from us? So you don’t want us to shout; what should we do then?”

Ankara Gov. Ercan Topaca said only a small group would be permitted to mark the attack, which occurred in the absence of any police presence in the square and which was made possible by alleged negligence on the part of security services who failed to prevent the suicide bombers from traveling from Syria to Ankara despite intelligence that an attack was imminent.

“Of course our citizens would like to commemorate the pain. In order to provide that, we allowed symbolic commemorations to be performed with small groups of relatives of the martyrs and those who would like to remember. Apart from that, no program will be permitted,” he said.

Ahead of the march, authorities in Ankara said mass commemorations of the event would not be tolerated.

“The only thing we are going to believe is the oppressive and destructive mentality in front of us,” said Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Mithat Sancar at the site of the commemoration, adding that this mentality had previously been seen in other massacres that had punctuated Turkish history for the past 35 years.

“The forces that want peace must struggle without stopping. That is the only way to destroy [this mentality],” he said.

Police, however, fired tear gas at those that had assembled, including members of the HDP, Republican People’s Party (CHP), trade unions, NGOs and ordinary citizens.

At least 71 people were detained near the site of the commemoration, as well as on numerous side streets in the area.

Those detained included members of Kaldıraç, the Halkevleri, Gençlik Muhalefti, the Democratic Rights Federation (DHF), Altınteri, the CHP and the Contemporary Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD).

Meanwhile, members of the Halkevleri were also dragged away by police during a panel on Islam in Istanbul’s Kartal district after they rose to draw attention to the anniversary of the massacre as CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was speaking.

Kılıçdaroğlu had come in for criticism for choosing to attend the conference rather than appearing in Ankara to commemorate those who were killed by ISIL last year.

On 9 October, Turkish police also attacked those commemorating the massacre in Bursa.

Sendika.Org, Hurriyet Daily News