Police intervene into protest against Ankara bombing in Istanbul

Police used force to prevent an attempted march protesting the Oct. 10 Ankara Massacre in Istanbul on Oct. 13 after the Istanbul Governor's Office denied permission for the rally on the basis of "sensitivity."

Following a call from the Confederation of Public Sector Trades' Unions (KESK), the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (D?SK), the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), a march was to be held on Oct. 13, starting at Cerrahpa?a and Sirkeci, two different venues in Istanbul's Fatih district, before joining in Beyaz?t Square, to protest the Ankara bombing and commemorate the 97 victims of the massacre. 

But the governor's office said at around 2 a.m. on Oct. 13 that the application filed for the demonstration had been rejected because "the places where the march was slated to be organized were places citizens use frequently," because the route for the demonstration "was not among the places listed in the law on meetings and demonstrations" and because of "the sensibility of the current period." 

Police attacked to prevent people from reaching the planned demonstration routes. 

Police forces initially refused to permit people to board the Kad?köy-Eminönü ferry, which connects the Asian continent of the city to the European side, in the morning hours of Oct. 13, on the grounds that the march was illegal.

Plainclothes policemen were filmed violently pushing ferry users to the ground in an attempt to detain them. 
Mücella Yap?c?, the co-chair of the Chamber of Architects' Environmental Impact Assessment Board and a member of the Taksim Solidarity Platform, reacted to the police's attack. 

"What are you doing? Our siblings have...