page_title: Gezi Park protests
section_title: Timeline
hierarchical_section_title: Gezi Park protests / Timeline
caption_attribution_description: English: This photo was taken during the Gezi Park Protests at Ankara on June 2013. The location of the image is the city center of Ankara "Kizilay" by a local park called "Guvenpark". It can be seen from the image that protesters carry Turkish flags and torches.
context_page_description: A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting the plan. Subsequently, supporting protests and strikes took place across Turkey, protesting a wide range of concerns at the core of which were issues of freedom of the press, expression, and assembly, as well as the Islamist government's erosion of Turkey's secularism. With no centralised leadership beyond the small assembly that organized the original environmental protest, the protests have been compared to the Occupy movement and the May 1968 events. Social media played a key part in the protests, not least because much of the Turkish media downplayed the protests, particularly in the early stages. Three and a half million people are estimated to have taken an active part in almost 5,000 demonstrations across Turkey connected with the original Gezi Park protest. Twenty-two people were killed and more than 8,000 were injured, many critically.
context_section_description: 2013 May On the morning of 28 May, around 50 environmentalists are camping out in Gezi Park in order to prevent its demolition. The protesters initially halt attempts to bulldoze the park by refusing to leave.
  Police use tear gas to disperse the peaceful protesters and burn down their tents in order to allow the bulldozing to continue. Photos of the scene, such as an image of a young female protester (later nicknamed the "woman in red") holding her ground while being sprayed by a policeman, quickly spread throughout the world media. The Washington Post reports that the image "encapsulates Turkey's protests and the severe police crackdown", while Reuters calls the image an "iconic leitmotif."
  The size of the protests grows.
  Police raid the protesters' encampments. Online activists' calls for support against the police crackdown increase the number of sit-in protesters by the evening.
  Police carry out another raid on the encampment in the early morning of 31 May, using water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters to surrounding areas and setting up barricades around the park to prevent re-occupation. Throughout the day, the police continue to fire tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at demonstrators, resulting in reports of more than 100 injuries. MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder and journalist Ahmet Şık were hospitalised after being hit by tear gas canisters.
  The executive order regarding the process decided earlier had been declared as "on-hold".
  10,000 gather in Istiklal Avenue. According to governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, 63 people are arrested and detained. Police use of tear gas is criticised for being "indiscriminate." The interior minister, Muammer Guler, says the claims of the use of disproportionate force would be investigated.
  2013 June Heavy clashes between protesters and police continue until early morning around İstiklal Avenue. Meantime, around 5,000 people gather at the Asian side of İstanbul and march through Kadıköy Bağdat Avenue. Around 1,000 people continue to march towards the European side and they cross the Bosphorus Bridge on foot. Protesters reach Beşiktaş in the morning and police disperse them with tear gas.
  Clashes continue throughout the day. Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu announce that they will move their planned rally to Taksim Square instead of Kadıköy. Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he has approved that decision. Around 15:45 police forces retreat from Taksim Square. Thousands of protesters gather at Gezi Park and Taksim Square.
  Protester Ethem Sarısülük gets shot in the head by a riot policeman during the protests at Ankara Kizilay Square. He dies 14 days later due to his injuries.
  PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan describes the protesters as "a few looters" in a televised interview. He also criticises social media, calling Twitter a "menace" and an "extreme version of lying".
  At night, police forces try to disperse protesters gathered at Beşiktaş district. Clashes between police and protesters continue until next morning. Beşiktaş football team supporter group Çarşı members hijack a bulldozer and chase police vehicles.
  Front side of AKM (Atatürk Cultural Center) building at Taksim Square gets covered with banners.
  In Ankara, police tries to disperse thousands of protesters who are attempting to march on the prime minister's office there.
  PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to reporters at the airport before leaving for a three-day trip to North Africa. He threatens the protesters saying "We are barely holding the 50 percent (that voted for us) at home."
  Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc offers an apology to protesters.
  22 year Abdullah Cömert dies after being hit in the head by tear gas canister during the protests at Hatay.
  PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks to his supporters outside of İstanbul Atatürk Airport on his return from a four-day trip to North Africa. Erdoğan blames "interest rate lobbies" claiming they are behind Gezi protests. His supporters chant "Give us the way, we will crush Taksim Square".
  Riot police forces enter Taksim square early in the morni
caption: The Gezi Park protests at Kizilay, Ankara in June 2013. The protesters with flags and torches protesting the Gezi Park at the city center of Ankara, Turkey.
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