Berkin Elvan was 14 years old and just went out to buy bread when he was hit in the head by a tear gas grenade during the Gezi protests in Istanbul in June 2013. After 269 days in a coma, he succumbed to his injuries on March 11, 2014, at the age of 15. "We are still waiting for justice today," his parents Gülsüm and Sami Elvan said at his grave in Feriköy Cemetery in Istanbul's Şişli district. The memorial ceremony was attended by relatives of the boy, the family's lawyers and numerous representatives of civil society and political organizations. Among them was HDP deputy Oya Ersoy.

The visit to the grave began with a minute's silence for Berkin Elvan and all the other victims of the Gezi uprising. The police were also present, and the entire cemetery was under siege. Tensions briefly erupted at the entrance to the cemetery as police officers wanted to search members of the Elvan family, including Berkin's sister Özge. Sami Elvan protested loudly, saying, "Hands off our children".

Lawyer Can Atalay, who represents the Elvan family, gave a speech denouncing interventions by political rulers in the trial over the boy's death. Only one police officer has been charged in the case, accused of "homicide by deliberate negligence," and he remains on duty. The investigation has been systematically obstructed for years, and prosecutors have been replaced several times. In addition, a new judge has been handling the case since last December, calling the Gezi protests "vandalism".

Sami Elvan: We fight for all children

Sami Elvan explained that he is waging his fight against those responsible in Berkin's murder not only for his own sake, but for the sake of all children whose families are seeking justice. "We want the rule of law, freedom, peace and brotherhood to prevail in this country. We want no one to be discriminated against, because we are all equal. We want our children to stop being called 'terrorists'."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had claimed after Berkin Elvan's death that the boy had been "a member of a terrorist organization" and that reports that he had been out buying bread for breakfast on that Sunday morning, June 16, 2013, were "an invention of the opposition".

Gülsüm Elvan: We do not forget

Berkin's mother, Gülsüm Elvan, commented in regard to the president's remarks regarding the Gezi protests that Erdogan has been causing her "suffering" for seven years. She said the AKP leader wanted people to forget. "For seven years we have been running after a justice that does not exist. But we will not forget. Neither Roboski, nor Suruç, or Ankara. Neither the three-year-old child in Sur nor the child who had to be kept in a freezer. Nor will we forget Mother Taybet, whose body lay in the street for a week."