16 kg of Courage
By Ceren Karakılıç
The death of 15- year old Berkin Elvan brings tears to
millions of eyes. During the anti-government protest he got
shot by a police’s teargas canister. After nine months of
fighting for his life in a coma, he breathed his last.
On June 16th, 2013 he could have been eating a regular
dinner with his family if he hadn’t been shot while going to
the market to buy bread in Okmeydanı. After 269 days in a
A cartoon made by a cartoonist named Oğuz Gürel about
Berkin Elvan’s death
coma with high fever, on a Tuesday morning, March 11th,
2014, he couldn’t handle the violence in the world with his
16 kg body. He closed his eyes to the world, causing other
millions of eyes and minds to open up.
2 million people from 53 provinces of Turkey marched
for Berkin Elvan after his funeral. Berkin’s story became a symbol of the heavy – handed police tactics
The death of Berkin Elvan also affected Robert College. Lots of students came to school we