Yusuf Yerkel, an adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has now gone on medical leave for a week — after a controversial event in which he was photographed kicking a protester.
The incident occurred last week during Erdoğan's visit to the town of Soma, which was struck by a mining disaster that has killed 301 people. In the widely circulated photo, the protester was already being held on the ground by police special forces as Yerkel was standing and kicking him.
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