ECHR rules against Turkey in Berkin Elvan case

The European Court of Human Rights ruled to violation of right to life on Tuesday in the case of Berkin Elvan, who was fatally shot by the Turkish police during Gezi park protests in Istanbul in 2013.

Ruling against Turkey for not having carried out an effective investigation in the case, the court said:

"The European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been violation of the procedural aspect of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerns the death of Berkin Elvan, aged 15, from an injury inflicted by a canister launcher during the "Gezi events" in Istanbul. The Court finds in particular that there has been a breach of the procedural obligation incumbent on the State Turkey, under Article 2 of the Convention, to carry out an effective investigation into the role that the director of Istanbul security and/or the prefect of Istanbul had possibly played in the occurrence of the death of Berkin Elvan."

Elvan was hit on the head by a tear-gas canister fired by a police officer in Istanbul during the anti-government protests in June 2013 in Turkey. He died on 11 March 2014.

In 2021 after a lengthy legal process, a police officer was finally sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison on charge of "killing with intent," but the court did not order an arrest.

Earlier in February 2020, a report by the military was issued, claiming that Elvan was partly to blame for his own death, since he was in an area of protest.