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Turkish Opposition Leader Begins 250-Mile Protest March Turkish Opposition Leader Begins 250-Mile Protest March
(35 minutes later)
ISTANBUL — The leader of Turkey’s largest opposition party began on Thursday a 250-mile march from Ankara, the capital, to Istanbul to protest President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s widening crackdown on dissent. ISTANBUL — The leader of Turkey’s largest opposition party began on Thursday a 250-mile march to Istanbul from Ankara, the capital, to protest President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s widening crackdown on dissent.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the Republican People’s Party, or C.H.P., set out on Thursday with several dozen supporters and journalists in what he said would be a 23-day walk between Turkey’s two largest cities. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the Republican People’s Party, or C.H.P., set out on Thursday with hundreds of supporters and journalists in what he said would be a 23-day walk between Turkey’s two largest cities.
Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s protest followed the arrest on Wednesday of a C.H.P. lawmaker, Enis Berberoglu, in a move that was seen in Turkey as a watershed moment. While a dozen parliamentarians from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party had already been jailed in recent months, Mr. Berberoglu is the first from the C.H.P. — the secular opposition party that was created by the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s protest followed the arrest on Wednesday of a C.H.P. lawmaker, Enis Berberoglu, a move that was seen in Turkey as a watershed moment. While a dozen lawmakers from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party had already been jailed in recent months, Mr. Berberoglu is the first from the C.H.P. — the secular party that was created by the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Mr. Berberoglu has become one of about 50,000 Turks arrested since the introduction of a state of emergency last summer that was initially intended to target the plotters of a failed coup last July, but which has since been used to crack down on most forms of opposition. More than 140,000 have been fired or suspended from their jobs. Mr. Berberoglu, a former newspaper editor, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 25 years in prison for leaking to journalists a video of Turkish government trucks that were said to be taking arms to Syria. Mr. Erdogan viewed the leak as an attempt to embarrass his government.
Mr. Berberoglu has become one of about 50,000 Turks arrested since the introduction of a state of emergency last summer that was initially intended to target the plotters of a failed coup in July, but which has since been used to crack down on most forms of opposition. More than 140,000 have been fired or suspended from their jobs.
Other notable cases in recent days include the arrest of Taner Kilic, the chairman of the Turkish branch of Amnesty International, and the sentencing of Aydin Sefa Akay, a judge who was a member of a United Nations war crimes panel. Judge Akay was sentenced to more than seven years in jail on charges of belonging to the Gulen movement, the group accused of being behind the failed coup.Other notable cases in recent days include the arrest of Taner Kilic, the chairman of the Turkish branch of Amnesty International, and the sentencing of Aydin Sefa Akay, a judge who was a member of a United Nations war crimes panel. Judge Akay was sentenced to more than seven years in jail on charges of belonging to the Gulen movement, the group accused of being behind the failed coup.
Judge Akay’s jailing was condemned on Thursday by Judge Theodor Meron, the president of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, which is overseen by the United Nations. Judge Meron, who has referred the matter to the Security Council, said the Turkish government “has pursued domestic proceedings in disregard of the applicable international legal framework.”Judge Akay’s jailing was condemned on Thursday by Judge Theodor Meron, the president of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, which is overseen by the United Nations. Judge Meron, who has referred the matter to the Security Council, said the Turkish government “has pursued domestic proceedings in disregard of the applicable international legal framework.”
Mr. Kilicdaroglu said at the beginning of his walk on Thursday that he was marching in support of those who had been unjustly included in the purge.Mr. Kilicdaroglu said at the beginning of his walk on Thursday that he was marching in support of those who had been unjustly included in the purge.
“This march has nothing to do with a specific political party,” Mr. Kilicdaroglu said, carrying a placard with the word “justice” on it. “This is a blessed march, this is a march for justice. Anyone who wants justice should support this march. In a country where jails are full, there is no justice.”“This march has nothing to do with a specific political party,” Mr. Kilicdaroglu said, carrying a placard with the word “justice” on it. “This is a blessed march, this is a march for justice. Anyone who wants justice should support this march. In a country where jails are full, there is no justice.”
Often accused of being too timid, Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s march is seen as a welcome change in strategy by those frustrated by his failure to unite Turkey’s disparate opposition movements. In recent elections, the C.H.P.’s vote share has stalled at around 25 percent, while Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party has attracted 40 percent to 50 percent, despite his increasingly authoritarian policies. Often criticized as being too timid, Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s march is seen as a welcome change in strategy by those frustrated by his failure to unite Turkey’s disparate opposition movements. In recent elections, the C.H.P.’s vote share has stalled at around 25 percent, while Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party has attracted 40 percent to 50 percent, despite the president’s increasingly authoritarian policies.
“This is a turning point,” said Aykan Erdemir, a former C.H.P. lawmaker now working at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research organization. “There have been repeated calls by different segments of the Turkish opposition for the C.H.P. to take politics from the narrow confines of the Parliament to the streets — and I think this is a positive embrace of those calls.”“This is a turning point,” said Aykan Erdemir, a former C.H.P. lawmaker now working at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research organization. “There have been repeated calls by different segments of the Turkish opposition for the C.H.P. to take politics from the narrow confines of the Parliament to the streets — and I think this is a positive embrace of those calls.”
For some, the march conjured grand comparisons with Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930, which the leader of the Indian independence movement used to protest a tax on salt production. But Mr. Erdemir said a better comparison was with a march on Ankara in 1990 by up to 100,000 Turkish miners and their supporters, which began as a demonstration supporting miners’ rights, but turned into an expression of wider antigovernment sentiment. For some, the march conjured grand comparisons with Gandhi’s Salt March in 1930, which the leader of the Indian independence movement used to protest a tax on salt production. But Mr. Erdemir said a better comparison was with a march on Ankara in 1991 by up to 100,000 Turkish miners and their supporters, which began as a demonstration supporting miners’ rights, but turned into an expression of wider antigovernment sentiment.
“Let’s see whether there is enough momentum to turn this into a march like the miner’s march,” said Mr. Erdemir. “Let’s see whether there is enough momentum to turn this into a march like the miner’s march,” Mr. Erdemir said.