Demonstrations that began at the end of May 2013 with the participation of a relatively small number of protestors against the removal of trees in Gezi Park and upon allegations that a shopping mall was to be built in place of the park, turned into increasingly expanding protests demanding basic rights and freedoms at first in Istanbul, followed by other cities because of the intensely violent nature of the police intervention. The actions that continued throughout the months of June and July, ceased to a large extent in early August (before and during the Ramadan religious holiday) however, events flared up again in late August.

Applications of people who suffered police violence during Gezi Park protests were made to 4 out of 5 branches – Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Adana, but Diyarbakır – of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), which provides physical and psychological healthcare for torture victims. A total of 297 people who had been subjected to trauma applied to receive treatment/rehabilitation during the most intense period of events from 31st of May to 30th of August 2013…