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[23 April 2014] - Three teenagers were detained during a National Sovereignty and Children's Day celebration in İstanbul for protesting the death of Berkin Elvan, who was shot with a police tear gas canister during last summer's Gezi Park protests and died after 269 days in a coma, Turkish media reported.
According to initial reports, two of the teens were attending a celebration in İstanbul's Eyüp district where İstanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu was present and were immediately detained by police after holding up a banner that read “Berkin Elvan is Immortal.”
The incident took place when Governor Mutlu was preparing to make a speech on stage. After seeing the detention of the two, another youth started shouting a slogan to protest the death of Elvan. He was also taken into custody by police units present in the celebration area.
Elvan's March 11 death sparked public outrage and sporadic clashes broke out between protesters and police after thousands of people poured into streets across the country in more than 20 provinces. Twenty-two-year-old Burak Can Karamanoğlu was shot and killed at the site of a crowded protest in İstanbul following Elvan's funeral, an incident for which the left-wing terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) subsequently claimed responsibility.
The Turkish nation marks National Sovereignty and Children's Day on Tuesday with celebrations held throughout Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).