Local authorities in Istanbul used the pretext of the UEFA Champions League Final to enforce a controversial ban on the 950th weekly gathering of the Saturday Mothers/People, a group demanding justice for their disappeared loved ones.
The Turkish police force's intervention during the 950th weekly gathering of the Saturday Mothers/People on June 10, 2023, has been observed and documented by three human rights organizations -- MLSA, the Truth Justice Memory Center and Amnesty International Turkey -- in compliance with the standards of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The Saturday Mothers/People have been holding sit-in protests since 1995. Their gatherings take place every Saturday in Galatasaray Square in Istanbul, aiming to draw attention to the issue of enforced disappearances and political murders in Turkey, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. They have been kept from organizing the protests since the 700th meeting in 2018.
These organizations, which have reported on the prohibition order from the Beyoğlu District Governorship, the prevention of press statements by police based on these decisions, and the detention of Saturday Mothers/People and human rights defenders for the past six weeks, have found that administrative authorities continue to ignore previous Constitutional Court decisions that have ruled that Saturday Mothers/People have the right to protest and continue their gatherings.
During this week's gathering, the police again obstructed the observers' usual monitoring spot. Officials this time cited the UEFA Champions League Final, which took take place in Istanbul on June 10, 2023, as the reason for this week's ban.
Violations included in the report
At 12:00 PM, police called on protestors to disperse, stating that the Saturday Mothers/People's demonstrations were "illegal" according to the "Beyoğlu District Governorship's ban". Despite the lack of resistance during the detention process, police used handcuffs on everyone present before placing them in police vehicles. Observers noted that all detainees' cell phones and symbolic carnations and roses were collected in a bag.
Upon examining the Beyoğlu District Governorship's prohibition order, it was found to contain a request to ban all gathering, meeting, march, sit-in, and protest actions, press statements, etc., to be held in Taksim Square and its surroundings and Istiklal Avenue on June 10, 2023, for one day. The request carried the wet signature of the Beyoğlu District Governor.
During this time, fans of the teams playing in the UEFA Champions League final were observed gathering in various places, shouting slogans and waving their team flags. Despite the previously mentioned prohibition, neither uniformed nor civilian police officers intervened with these large groups of soccer fans.
Detainees reported that they were taken to three different hospitals and that their requests to have their handcuffs removed during this process were ignored. After their statements at the police station were taken, the detainees were released from different hospitals.
The report for the 950. week gathering is available only in Turkish.
