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June 15th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
“Tayyip made brother kill brother,” Mrs Sarisuluk said, using the
name by which most Turks refer to Mr Erdogan.
“I am not blaming the police. The police are also our children. But
Tayyip gives the order.”
A bullet was removed from Mr Sarisuluk’s head during an autopsy on Saturday,
according to Kazim Bayraktar, a lawyer from the Ankara Bar Association, who
is assisting the family.
Dozens of members of the family and friends gathered on Saturday for a private
funeral service held in a Cemevi – the place of worship for members of the
Alevi religious group – not far from where he lived.
Just a few miles away, thousands of Mr Erdogan’s supporters held a rally for
the prime minister, underlining how divided Turkey is over his rule.
Mr Erdogan has made concessions to the protesters against his rule, who
initially took to the streets to complain against plans to redevelop central
Gezi Park in Istanbul. He has offered to defer to a court ruling on the
legality of the government’s park redevelopment plan, and floated the
possibility of a referendum on it.
But on Saturday the protesters announced that they would continue with their
sit-in – defying calls from Mr Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul to end the
demonstration.
It was the violence inflicted by police upon the group of environmental
activists in Istanbul late last month that served as a catalyst for Mr
Sarisuluk and thousands of others to take to the streets, in protests that
have been compared to both the London riots and the Arab Spring.
Mr Erdogan has tried to offer concessions, but they have fallen flat on the
ears of his opponents, considered to be half Turkey’s population.
“He buys everyone with money. Now how many bodyguards does he have with
him?” asked Mrs Sarisuluk.
“Now he is buying the singers, actresses, and artists,” she said,
commenting on the famous national figures Mr Erdogan had chosen to negotiate
with in a bid to end the unrest.
On May 31, after leaving his family house, Mr Sarisuluk met with friends in
central Ankara to discuss their reasons for protesting the government.
Mr Sarisuluk was angry, according to his friend Burhan Coban, 26, an
accounting student.
Mr Sarisuluk spoke loudly in favour toppling Mr Erdogan. Not only was there
the police brutality – there were thousands of students their own age jailed
on scant evidence, and inadequate protection for workers had led to the
accidental death of several of Mr Sarisuluk’s friends.
Also, Mr Erdogan consistently lashed out at members of the Alevi religious
sect, to which Ethem belonged.
The authoritarian style of Mr Erdogan – once considered a reformer – had
divided the country. There were only those that were “for or against
him.”
Mr Erdogan had won election after election, and seemed intent on imposing his
will – even if democratic principles were stomped upon. Having reached his
term limits, opponents feared he would try to change positions, from prime
minister to president, to retain power over the long-term in a fashion
similar to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
This was something Mr Sarisuluk could not bear. He spent his last night at a
friend’s house and on June 1 took to the streets with thousands of other
anti-government protesters.
Their goal was to take over Kizilay Square in central Ankara, similar to how
protesters in Istanbul had taken over Taksim, a landmark central square that
became a focal point and symbol of the demonstrations.
Mustafa Sarisuluk, Mr Sarisuluk’s brother, said he had attended previous
demonstrations in Ankara, but that it was different on that day.
“What I saw was unlike the past,” he said. He described
nationalists, leftists, students, and the politically unaffiliated all
coming out to march shoulder to shoulder against Mr Erdogan.
The protesters tried to enter the square from side streets. A small number of
stone-throwing youths, including Mr Sarisuluk, tried to push the police
away, despite massive amounts of tear gas, water canons, and rubber bullets.
Thousands of peaceful protesters stood behind them, chanting for Mr Erdogan
to resign.
At about 6pm they managed to break the police lines and enter the square,
believing themselves safe in their sheer numbers.
But it was not to be. Hundreds of riot police descended upon the square,
firing tear gas and clubbing demonstrators to the ground.
As the battle continued, one police officer kicked a protester to the ground,
and Mr Sarisuluk and the other young Turks around him began throwing rocks
at the police officer, trying to save their comrade.
The officer was knocked off balance. And perhaps in fright, he pulled out his
pistol. Video of the incident shows the helmeted police officer appear to
fire his gun several times above the protesters.
The angle of the gun appears high, but Mr Sarisuluk falls.
“Ethem was openly killed in front of the eyes of the whole world,”
said his brother, who was nearby and heard the shots.
Taken to an Ankara hospital, he was declared brain-dead only on June 12. Two
days later, his grieving family announced that his heart had stopped
beating.
“He would often come and tell me that mothers shouldn’t cry and I am
there to defend your rights,” said Mrs Sarisuluk. “He was there
for a just cause, a right cause.”
Her demands were clear. The protests should continue until Mr Erdogan resigns
and the police officer she believes killed Mr Sarisuluk is handed over to a
court.
“We will continue until Tayyip resigns,” she said. “That’s when
my pain will end. He is the one who gives the order to the police.”
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