Turkish opposition stages massive rally against Erdogan

ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of Turks came out in force in an Istanbul suburb on Sunday in a direct challenge to their president as they called for an end to a state of emergency that has been in place since a failed coup in July 2016.

The mammoth protest — organized by the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP — was a rare display of public dissent in a country where tens of thousands have been jailed as part of a systematic postcoup purge of dissidents and other government opponents. Even small demonstrations in central Istanbul have often been met with a harsh police response.

But Sunday’s rally, which organizers claimed drew more than a million people, marked a triumphant end to a march started by opposition leaders in Ankara three weeks ago.

The lawmakers and others walked from the capital, Ankara, to Istanbul’s seaside, a journey of about

280 miles. That walk, led by the mild-mannered CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, ended up breathing new life into an opposition that just months ago was on the verge of irrelevance.

Kilicdaroglu, in an uncharacteristically fiery speech on Sunday, called the rally a “new step, a new history, a new birth.” He read out a list of demands for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erodgan, including “giving parliament back its authority.”

In April, Kilicdaroglu failed to mount a successful challenge as a referendum on constitutional amendments granted sweeping powers to Erdogan. Last year, Kilicdaroglu voted along with the president’s party to lift lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution. That move was unpopular among his supporters. But in recent weeks, Kilicdaroglu has inspired ordinary Turks to join his march and voice their concerns about the country’s direction.

Kilicdaroglu, who condemned the coup when it happened and extended his support to Erdogan, began his march on June 15, one day after CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu was arrested. Berberoglu, a former journalist, was sentenced to prison for providing the independent Cumhuriyet newspaper with a video purportedly showing Turkish intelligence sending weapons to Syrian rebels.