On Januar 29, the people of Gazi have been attacked three times with pump guns, guns and knives starting with an attack during a street action of Alawite, revolutionary and democratic organisations protesting against the demolition of the cem house Yenikent. {divide}The labouring district of Gazi in Istanbul is already used to provocations. On 12 March, 1995 counter-guerrilla forces committed an armed attack against a café, where usually Allevite people used to go. This attack had the objective of creating a conflict between the Allevite and Sunnite labourers and to hinder the recent revolutionary rise at the workers' districts, but on the contrary, the labourers started a march towards the police station under the leadership of revolutionary forces. Thus, a one-week-uprising began in Gazi, where 23 labourers would be killed by the state forces.
Today, in a period where the dirty war against the Kurdish freedom struggle again is being escalated by the state through mass detention, total isolation of the national Kurdish leader Ocalan and civil massacres like recently in Roboski, those kinds of aggressions and provocations are not surprising at all.
This time, the state used a criminal gang named "Nalburlar" (hardware dealers) in order to attack the people. However, the people of Gazi has shown again that they will resist against all kind of attacks and provocations.
When the gang attacked one young man during the protest action, the other demonstrators interfered. Members of the DHD were attacked with knifes and arms by gang members when interfering. After shooting in the air, the criminals run away. Three demonstrators were taken to hospital.
After that attack, a protest demonstration was organised and during that march, the members of the gang again attacked the people. This time, a person being said to be the leader of the gang opened fire and hurt two persons; however the people of Gazi defeated the aggressors.
In a third attack, members of the gang gathered in front of the hospital and attacked the people this time with pump guns and pistols. One person was seriously harmed being hit by three bullets in his head.
As always in such cases, the police did not only not interfere despite of a police station being there just around the corner but detained the people of Gazi attacked by the gang. In total 3 persons, two of them being treated in the hospital, were detained by the police and brought to the anti-terror department.