Huge protest in Turkey ends opposition’s 3-week march
A mammoth protest by Turkey’s opposition was a rare display of public dissent in a country where tens of thousands have been jailed as part of a systematic post-coup 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 from the Republican People’s Party claimed drew more than a million people, marked a triumphant end to a march started by opposition leaders three weeks ago in Ankara, the capital.
The lawmakers and others walked about 280 miles to Istanbul’s seaside, led by the mild-mannered party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and the march 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” and “releasing jailed lawmakers and journalists.”
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 direction of the country.
“We marched for our country. This is just the beginning,” said Aydin Parlak, a 59-yearold retiree from the city of Samsun on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
“We live in a country that has the highest number of journalists in jail,” he said. “This is the first time in 15 years [since Erdogan came to power] that the opposition party is on the news, that it’s the main topic of conversation in the country.”