Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Özgür Özel has warned participants in a “March for Justice” to be wary of provocations on the way, the Hürriyet daily reported on Monday.
Özel called for unity and brought to mind the purpose of the march, warning participants against provocators along the way. “We will continue marching without making any response, even if they stand by us with a car and attack us. We will only shout ‘justice, justice’ or ‘rights, law, justice’ slogans and will not use other slogans that would make this group look different from a group that is demanding justice and walking a peaceful march. Each different slogan can make this group smaller. Some of them might be hurt. We will march and reach millions when we arrive,” he said.
On the 12th day of the March for Justice, which was initiated by CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in response to the arrest of a CHP Deputy Enes Berberoğlu, tensions have been observed between march participants and some motorists. Kılıçdaroğlu organized a meeting with the party’s central executive committee, which decided that 25 deputies will be positioned at various spots within the cortege and that marchers will not be provoked.
Kılıçdaroğlu shared a message on his social media account after completing the 12th day of the march, which read: “These people are not begging for justice from you because it is the right of every human being to live in a just system. We will bring justice to this country despite you.”
Meanwhile, Pervin Buldan, the deputy parliamentary speaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said they would join the March for Justice initiated by CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu if it is extended to Edirne, the Birgün daily reported on Monday.
According to the report, Buldan, who spoke at a meeting in İstanbul, said: “Justice is only justice when sought for everyone. It is wrong to demand justice only for injustices done against themselves. We will organize a reception for our marching citizens when they arrive in Kandıra. But if the march is extended to Edirne, then we will participate [in the march], believing in the sincerity of the search for justice.”
The March of Justice was kicked off by Kılıçdaroğlu in Ankara in protest of the arrest of CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week for leaking information for a report on National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks transporting weapons to jihadists in Syria.
The march, which is in its 12th day, is expected to end at Maltepe Prison, where Berberoğlu is jailed.
Former Co-chairperson of HDP Figen Yüksekdağ is imprisoned in Kandıra together with deputies Ferhat Encü, Çağlar Demirel, Gülser Yıldırım and Besime Konca, while the other HDP co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, has been in jail in Edirne since November 2016. (SCF with turkishminute.com) June 27, 2017
