Justice March of people of Turkey

BURCU CANSU

burcucansu@birgun.net / @burcu_cansu

After MP Enis Berberoğlu of Turkey’s CHP was sentenced to 25 years in jail in the case of MİT trucks, a Justice March called on by CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was started yesterday (June 15) with the participation of tens of thousands of people.

Kılıçdaroğlu said about this march which was attended by also several institutions’ members: ‘Our march will continue until justice comes to this country.’

The march, which will take place until the prison in İstanbul where Enis Berberoğlu is held is reached, started on Thursday (June 15) at 11 in the morning at Ankara’s Güvenpark. Releasing statements, United June (Haziran) Movement, Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), Halkevleri, and Communist Party of the People (HTKP) also supported the march.

Giving a brief statement in front of his house before going to Güvenpark, Kılıçdaroğlu said the following: “In a place where there is no justice, there cannot be a state and there cannot be humans. So, we are launching this justice march… We do not want journalist in jail… We do not want academics in jail. As I said before, if there is a need to pay a price, I will pay that price first. I’m now walking to İstanbul and this will not be the end of it. Our march will continue until justice comes to this country.”

Also giving a short speech at Güvenpark, where he went to start off his march, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “We say enough is enough! So, we start our march. Justice will for sure come to this country. We have to fight together for the future of our country and our children.”

Underlining that the march is not about any particular political party, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “This is a sacred march. It is a march for justice. Everyone who wants justice must support this march.”

Referring to the declaration of state of emergency in the country on 20 July 2016 as the ‘actual coup’, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “The whole world should hear us! We are faced with a dictatorship regime in our own lands. We do not want a dictatorship! We do not want those who carried out the July 20 coup. We want democracy and freedoms in our country. We want justice for our workers, retirees, farmers, civil servants... for everyone... We want justice to live in dignity.”

Giving his first break of the march after 4 hours of walking, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “My march is going quite well! I’m going to keep walking. We want to send a message across the whole world and in Turkey because we are right! We want justice!”

Kılıçdaroğlu and people who accompanied him finalized the first day of their march at Ankara’s Hippodrome to stay over in tents set up at the parking lot. Kılıçdaroğlu will be starting off his walk again in the morning.

The march is expected to last for 28 days and a break is expected every 20 miles until the 430 km long march is completed. According to reports, answer of Kılıçdaroğlu to people who expressed concern about his health, considering he is 69 years old, was: ‘No worries; you take care of yourselves’...

On the other hand, Chair of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli shared messages from his personal twitter account criticizing Kılıçdaroğlu and CHP in anger...

Commenting on the messages of Bahçeli, CHP MP Tekin Bingöl said: “Nobody will take statements of Bahçeli seriously. Provacotive statements have no importance...”

According to the view of parliamentary group leader of ruling party AKP, Bülent Turan, the Justice March is a result of ‘abdication of reason’...

Front-page article of BirGün published on 16 June 2017, Friday with the title of 'Justice March of the people of Turkey'

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/adalet-gelinceye-kadar-164976.html