Gendarmerie report says Gezi protest victim Berkin Elvan 'partly to blame' for his own death

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A gendarmerie expert’s report prepared regarding the death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died nine months after being hit by a police teargas canister during 2013 Gezi Park protests, said that the boy was “partly to blame” in his own death, daily Evrensel reported on Feb. 3.

Elvan became one of the symbols of the Gezi Park protests – which began against the redevelopment of central Istanbul’s Gezi Park and grew into nationwide anti-government unrest – when he died on March 11, 2014, after having been in a coma for 269 days. Since then his family has taken the police officers in question to court.

Currently police officer Fatih Dalgalı is the only defendant in the case. The trial continues today with no arrests. The gendarmerie expert's report submitted to the court said that Dalgalı was the “primary negligent party” in the case, but also claimed that his action was “most likely unintentional” as the police that day had not been shooting with specific targets in mind.

The report also said that Elvan was the “contributory negligent party” in the case, as he had not “looked after his own safety meticulously” due to his being in an area where “non-peaceful protesters” were existent.

The four-page-long Jan. 24-dated report also claimed on the street where Elvan was hit by teargas canister, protesters were attacking the police with rocks, fireworks and Molotov bombs. It claimed the the police intervention was “in line with the legal regulations.”

Elvan was hit in the head on June 16, 2013 in Istanbul's Okmeydanı neighborhood. His family said he had left home to buy bread and was not a protester. Elvan was the eight person to be killed in Gezi Park protests.