Hundreds of demonstrators in Istanbul clashes with police over the death of a 22-year-old anti-government demonstrator. Ahmet Atakan died late on Monday night, with officials saying his death was the result of a fall while witnesses say that he died after being struck by a police tear gas canister during the protests in Antakya against construction of a road through METU in Ankara. Ahmet Atakan is the sixth anti- government demonstrator killed in Turkey in recent months. © Tolga Sezgin / Nar Photos Used by permission

As protests once again sweep Turkey, the watchdog group, Reporters without Borders has highlighted the extent to which journalists have seemingly been targeted by police:

Reporters Without Borders condemns the resumption of police violence against journalists that has accompanied a new wave of demonstrations in Turkey’s biggest cities in the past few days. At least 12 journalists were injured or attacked by police in the space of two days in Istanbul, Izmir and the capital, Ankara.

Their report lists a number of journalists who were beaten by police.  An even larger group were struck by rubber bullets, often at very close range.  Among the journalists noted in the report was Ahmet Şık, who was also injured – and apparently targeted by police – during the Gezi Protests.  Şık is the target of a criminal case that has been profiled in Amnesty’s major report on Turkey’s attacks on freedom of expression, Decriminalize Dissent.

Howard Eissenstat
Department of History
St. Lawrence University