Turkey’s opposition denounces failed coup
Rally is a rare show of unity to support the ruling party
Hundreds of thousands of opposition members rallied Sunday in a rare show of unity with Turkey’s government to denounce the failed coup 10 days ago, despite concerns about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s crackdown since then.
Waving flags in Taksim Square, the crowd included people from all backgrounds — Turks and Kurds, secularists and Islamists, liberals and nationalists — standing together as the national anthem played.
Supporters of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party joined the rally in support of democracy. After 15 years of bitter political rivalry with Turkey’s major opposition, the Republican People’s Party, this was the first time the two groups came together at one gathering.
Turkey declared a threemonth state of emergency last week and detained more than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary and other institutions because of the coup attempt. About 50,000 workers lost their jobs for being suspected of ties to the coup plotters.
Erdoğan said the government closed and seized the assets of 15 universities, 934 other schools, 109 student dormitories, 19 unions and 35 medical institutions, as well as more than 1,100 other associations and foundations, the Associated Press reported.
“The culprits of the coup should be tried lawfully with the understanding of abiding by the rule of law,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, chairman of the main opposition party, told the crowd at Sunday’s rally. “This is a prime requirement for the state’s integrity and dignity. Torture, ill treatment, oppression and intimidation ... should not be allowed.”
Restaurant owner, Emre Salzar, 49, a supporter of the opposition, said, “I trust the government. They will get rid of the snakes, and only the good people in Turkey will survive.”
Murat Karatas, 52, a painter and Kurdish party supporter, said, “I am not here to support any party and any ethnicity. I am here to get my voice counted, as a democratic citizen of Turkey.”
“It is very hard to find a crowd like this,” said Ozger Solul, 21, a university student who has been coming out for daily pro-government demonstrations since the coup attempt July 15.
Aisha Gul, 31, a businesswoman and supporter of the Kurdish party, was optimistic but cautious.
“We are trying to come together to stand against anything that hurts our democracy. It is important to note that such standing together includes how and when democratic parties do undemocratic things,” she said.
Gul said she’s hopeful about the future of a healthy democracy in Turkey, but “am I confident? No! Will everyone be included in the democratic system in Turkey? That we will see after one year.”
“The problem is the system,” said Soli Altay, 47, who runs an art gallery in Istanbul and supports no party. “It has become so corrupt that we are not sure what efforts it will take to sort out the problems of that system.”
Altay expressed concerns about whether the government crackdowns will allow people to live freely in Turkey.
“I am liberal-minded. I support gay rights. ... Will a woman be free under this democratic government? If you want to wear a hijab, it is fine with me. If you want to wear a bikini, that is fine with me, too. I don’t think (Erdoğan’s) supporters think like that,” Altay said. “That is why I am here, to show them that they don’t own this country. They don’t own our minds.”