Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of mourners who attended a funeral march Wednesday for a 15-year old boy . Throughout the afternoon , a virtual river of humanity coursed through the streets of Istanbul escorting the coffin of Berkin Elvan . Mourners carrying portraits of the boy and red carnations chanted `` Berkin Elvan , a sapling just 15 years old . '' `` The boy was innocent . The boy was n't doing anything . He went to get bread and the police took a shot at him and basically killed him , '' said Dursun Ince , a retired engineer who was one of tens of thousands of demonstrators who participated in the march . Berkin Elvan 's death unleashed a wave of grief and rage against the Turkish government that sparked protests in cities across the country . Public messages of condolence issued by Turkey 's family affairs minister , as well as a sympathetic phone call from the Turkish President to the father of the boy , did little to calm the outrage . Elvan 's mother , Gulsum , has placed blame for the critical injury her son suffered last June squarely on the government and police . The boy was 14 years old when he was last seen conscious stepping out of his home to buy bread for his family 's breakfast . His family says he was next seen 15 minutes later suffering from a horrendous head wound believed to have been inflicted by a tear gas canister fired by Turkish police . For the next nine months , the teenager lay in a coma , wasting away to a weight of just 16 kilograms ( 35 pounds ) . Elvan was pronounced dead early Tuesday morning . That night , demonstrators hurled stones , bottles and abuse at Turkish riot police in several Istanbul neighborhoods . `` Killers ! '' angry crowds screamed at helmeted police officers on Istanbul 's Istiklal Caddesi . `` You killed Berkin Elvan ! '' a woman yelled . After initially holding back , squads of riot police began pursuing demonstrators through the streets . Armored personnel carriers patrolled main boulevards , hosing rioting youths with water cannons , which were also periodically used to extinguish burning barricades . On Wednesday , a major labor union called for a nationwide strike in honor of the dead boy . Several of the main opposition political parties , which are in the middle of fierce campaigns ahead of nationwide municipal elections on March 30 , announced they would not play music at rallies Wednesday . Turkish television also aired footage of university students in a canteen , banging their silverware on tables in a show of support for the Elvan family . Some high school and university student groups are calling for a boycott of classes Wednesday . `` A small kid is murdered and the killers are still loose . This is us standing up for our kid brother , '' said Bircan Birol , a 22-year-old member of the Student Collectives movement at Istanbul University . `` There are pictures of Berkin up everywhere , and today we say : 'Our class is Berkin Elvan . ' `` Recep Tayyip Erdogan , Turkey 's fiery Prime Minister , has yet to mention the Elvan family in any of his daily campaign rallies . Erdogan is fighting hard to mobilize his ruling Justice and Development Party to continue its decade-long electoral winning streak in this month 's municipal elections . However , Abdullah Gul , the man who holds the largely symbolic post of Turkish President , personally called the grieving family Monday . `` The family was very grateful for the call . They asked ( for ) Mr President 's help in finding out the security cam recordings of the incident , which , interestingly , could n't be found so far , '' an official in Abdullah Gul 's office wrote CNN in an e-mail , on condition of anonymity because of Turkish protocol . `` And they asked the help of Mr President for calm during the funeral -- and especially that the police shall not intervene . The President told them that he will talk to the governor especially to provide a smooth , calm and respectful funeral without any more bad scenes . '' There was little to no visible police presence escorting the funeral procession on Wednesday . But as the sun began to set in Istanbul , police riot control vehicles began hosing down throngs of demonstrators with water cannons , sending thousands of people sprinting to escape clouds of tear gas . Clashes also erupted in the port city of Izmir on Wednesday , as well as the Turkish capital Ankara .
Thousands march , mourning 15-year-old who died after nine months in coma . Berkin Elvan suffered a head wound after leaving his home to buy bread . He was taken by ambulance and rushed to hospital where he later died. The death caused rage against the Turkish government that sparked protests nationwide .