Police brutality at occupy Gezi was all over the social media, since last a few days. But why are they so violent? Are not they taking their helmets and uniforms off, and putting their police identity aside? Don’t they have a civil life? In last a few days, they threw tear gas canisters at people’s head and eyes, one protester even got shot by a police officer and in coma. So many people lost their eyes, got beaten to death, had broken arms and legs, even a broken skull. And police did it as a part of their job, or at least they see that in this way. In order to see the police brutality, you can check this website (please be aware the pictures are gore and +18) which built right after occupy Gezi protests.
I think the main problem is police taking its job not as a part of their life, but as their actual life. And they take their job way too seriously. It seems like, they take any kind of protest as an attack to their honor and personality. Can there be any other explanation behind of telling to protesters during the tear gas attacks, “go over that way it is safe” and then throwing more tear gas at them, and beat them in the narrow street that they have directed them into? That’s certain, they have a really different kind of humor. A humor that so many people have difficulties to understand it. Here is one of that moments:
On the video police calls the protesters by saying, “come over here, we will not harm you, come over” and shoots a tear gas canister through the head of the protester. Protesters were smart enough not to get closer to the police, and luckily the tear gas canister miss their heads by inches.
“The white shirted police”
When I was in Turkey, I had a few police friends back then. And I was asking why are you so angry at protests? Answers were usually same, ‘they tell us what to do, and it is not our choice, just following orders’ or ‘we are waiting at the protest areas for hours and hours, and that makes you tired angrier; after a while, you just want some action’. As they said, they were going to the area usually six or even more hours ago, and living the area hours after the protests. Of course some of them told me that the protesters are traitors to this country, and they are worse and more violent than we actually know. I had a hard time to believe that, but you never know. And this video recorded in Izmir, a city by Aegean Sea, during the protests to support occupy Gezi. On the video, after 00:42, it is hard to define why the police being so harsh on people who are just sitting at a park by seaside. Here is the video:
Maybe, the people on that video were just hiding their horrible identity, and they might be really dangerous. But, would you keep hitting people, even if you would catch them and they were under control? Maybe, you need to be an undercover policeman for that. Video shows an undercover policeman or “white shirted police” as called on social media, beating a protester, even he was caught, and was under police control.
There are also supporters of police and their behaviors, of course. Otherwise, it would be impossible to continue these actions. This time, on the video, you can see some of these supporters while they were marching behind the police through the protesters and they are carrying wooden sticks with nails on them. So, these supporters are beyond approving the actions of the police, and actually they are taking a part in those actions. True activists.
Why are they so angry
I am wondering what makes them so angry. Polices have rights, as any other government employee has. Maybe, they have even better rights. Free public transportation, exemption from military services, respect in every store or place you enter, power of threatening people with their job title, entering malls or similar places without a body search, pretty good salary… So, they have their own class, and maybe. they are trying to protect their class. As every powerful class would do, they do not want their class going down or its power taken away. And only way to do is, fighting for the higher class whom protects and give power to their very own class. And maybe, that is why they fight so violently and hard.
They have a cruel history of torturing, beating and fighting. And they just added another sad incident to their already bloody history. Ethem Sarisuluk, a 26 year-old protester, is still in coma after being shot by the police:
They might be taking orders to throw tear gas, water cannons, plastic bullets at protesters or even shooting them. But, no order can make you enjoy doing these. That is their choice, to enjoy or hate what they are doing. And it seems like, they are enjoying what they are doing.
Police brutality is real and fierce. Here are some more examples of the police attacks, on protesters:
-Police attacking an unarmed citizen in Ankara, the capital of Turkey,
-And in Izmir, a woman beaten by more than 10 polices,
-In Ankara again, tens of polices beat another woman,
-Finally, a police hoorays, after shooting a protester on the face by a tear gas canister.
