Bülent Kiliç , AFP — World Press Photo 2015
12 March 2014 Istanbul, Turkey
A young girl, wounded during clashes near Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, on 12 March.
Violence broke out between riot police and people attending the funeral procession of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan. He had been hit on the head by a teargas canister while out buying bread, during anti-government demonstrations the previous June, and died following a nine-month coma. The June protests had begun over plans to develop the city’s Gezi Park into a mosque and shopping center, and had escalated into national expressions of opposition to what was seen as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s growing authoritarianism. Elvan’s death triggered further anti-government protests across the country. Despite such opposition, Erdogan was elected as president of Turkey five months later.
Bülent Kiliç, a Turkish photographer born in 1979, began his career as a journalist for the local press and in 2005 became a photographer, joining AFP as a stringer two years later. He is currently the photo manager for Turkey and has carried out several foreign assignments including in Ukraine and Syria.
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Photo curtesy of World Press Photo
