Turkish opposition in mass 'justice' rally challenge to Erdogan
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul at the end of a 450km ‘justice’ march against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Organiser Kemal Kilicdaroglu told the rally he was opposed to a "one man regime" but did not support last year's coup
Hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets of Istanbul on Sunday in the largest opposition rally in years, marking the end of a nearly month-long march protesting alleged injustices under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in relation to the government’s large-scale crackdown on opponents since last year’s attempted coup.
A sea of people filled the vast shoreside square in Maltepe on the Asian side of Istanbul, celebrating the culmination of a 450-kilometre "justice march" from Ankara to Istanbul by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) - the main opposition party. The march appeared to draw citizens from across the political spectrum to protest against what they see as widespread injustice and oppression by Erdogan’s government.
The rally is by far the biggest by the opposition seen in Istanbul since the mass May-June 2013 demonstrations against Erdogan's rule.
Kilicdaroglu began the 25-day walk to protest the arrest of one of his MPs. It rapidly grew into a major march against alleged injustices under a state of emergency imposed following last year's 15 July failed coup.
Since the failed coup, tens of thousands of people have been detained or fired from jobs in the civil service, academia and media over alleged connections to Fethullah Gülen, an exiled preacher whose movement is widely believed to have orchestrated last year’s putsch. But the crackdown has gone beyond the alleged perpetrators to target dissidents of all stripes including senior opposition lawmakers. Rights activists have also been arrested, including two top officials at Amnesty International, and Ankara has become the world’s largest jailer of journalists.
Nearly a quarter of the Turkish judiciary has been dismissed or detained in what legal experts say is a systematic effort to reshape the country’s justice system.
“We demand justice,” Kilicdaroglu said in a speech minutes after reaching the end of his march. “We demand justice not only for those who gathered here, not only those who support us, but for everyone.”
"Nobody should think this march is the last one. It's the first step," Kilicdaroglu told crowds who roared back with the cry "Justice!".
"Everyone should know very well that 9 July is a new step, a new history... a new birth," he added.
