Ankara police block activist funeral cortege, raid memorial protest with poisonous tear gas

Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon in Ankara’s Kizilay Square to stop a memorial demonstration for an activist fatally shot in the head during protests. As police clashed with the hundreds-strong crowd a ban on downtown protests was announced.

About a thousand demonstrators gathered at the square in the center of the Turkish capital on Sunday, blocking two busy boulevards.

The protesters were waiting for the funeral procession for Ethem Sarisuluk, a 26-year-old activist who was shot in the head during demonstrations in Ankara on June 1 in support of Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Following two weeks on life support, Sarisuluk was declared brain dead.