Background
Gazi Quarter is a neighbourhood in Istanbul's Sultangazi district (part of Gaziosmanpaşa in 1995) whose population is largely Alevi. The 1990s were a period of high political and social tension in Turkey, and attacks directed at the Alevi population were a particular source of concern. After the 1993 events in Sivas, unease persisted among Alevi communities.
The Gazi events were a wave of violence that began on 12 March 1995 and lasted four days; deaths resulted both from an armed attack and from the response of security forces.
What happened
On the evening of 12 March 1995 gunmen in a taxi fired automatic weapons at cafés and a cake shop in Gazi Quarter. Halil Kaya, an Alevi religious leader (dede), was killed and twenty-five people were wounded. The attackers killed the driver of the taxi they were using, set the vehicle alight and disappeared.
The next day residents took to the streets to protest. During tension with police, security forces fired on the crowd and people were killed. On 15 March the protests spread to Ümraniye, where there were further deaths. Over the four days the total death toll is given as 22 or 23 depending on the source, and hundreds were injured.
Investigation and trial
The case was opened in Eyüp but moved to the Trabzon High Criminal Court for security reasons. The trial began on 11 September 1995 and ended on 3 March 2000. Of the police officers charged, two were convicted and eighteen acquitted. The Court of Cassation overturned the ruling; the sentences handed down at the retrial were light, and the court upheld the decision in 2002.
Who attacked the cafés was never established by a court ruling. An indictment prepared in the Ergenekon investigation put forward names in connection with the attack; these remain allegations.
In July 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated the right to life and ordered compensation for the families of twelve people who died in Gazi and five who died in Ümraniye.
Where it stands today
Each March commemorative marches are held in Gazi Quarter and Istanbul. Families and Alevi organisations call for the attackers to be found and for justice for those who died. Motions in parliament for an inquiry into the events were not adopted.
The Gazi events are widely regarded as a turning point in discussions of violence against the Alevi community in Turkey and of security forces' handling of mass demonstrations.
After the events, people in and around the neighbourhood spoke of living for years with fear and a sense of insecurity. Families commemorate their loss every year. Reports by Alevi associations and human rights groups criticise the way security forces intervened and the shortcomings of the investigation. The Gazi commemoration remains one of the most important parts of the neighbourhood's shared memory.