Turkish main opposition leader starts a great march for justice

[bozadi]

_http://www.startribune.com/turkish-opposition-party-begins-250-mile-protest-march/428588773/

Turkey's main opposition party set off on a 425-kilometer (265 mile) march Thursday from the capital to an Istanbul prison to protest the conviction of one of its lawmakers. Thousands began walking from Ankara, with police at the scene.

The leader of the pro-secular Republican People's Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, called the "march for justice" after parliamentarian Enis Berberoglu was convicted and sentenced to 25 years for revealing state secrets.

Kilicdaroglu called the verdict "palace-motivated," a reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Let the whole world hear, we are facing a dictatorial regime in Turkey, in our own land," he said.

The case of Berberoglu, a former journalist and lawmaker, stems from a 2015 story by the Cumhuriyet newspaper suggesting Turkey's intelligence service had smuggled weapons to Islamist rebels in Syria. His lawyer has appealed the verdict.

Berberoglu was accused of giving journalists footage that showed local authorities searching Syria-bound trucks allegedly carrying mortar rounds and getting into a standoff with Turkish intelligence officials. Turkish leaders denied supporting Islamic rebels and said the trucks contained aid to Turkmens in Syria.

Can Dundar, Cumhuriyet's then editor-in-chief who is now abroad, and the paper's Ankara representative, Erdem Gul, are also on trial on similar charges. Separately, the three are being tried for "aiding a terror organization without being members," a reference to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of orchestrating last year's bloody coup attempt. The prosecution believes Gulen's network to be the source of the leaked images.

After the verdict, Kilicdaroglu tweeted: "In this country, the punishment for covering the news of a truck filled with weapons heading to terror groups is 25 years in prison but illegal arm shipments are allowed!"

Berberoglu is the first legislator from the Republican People's Party to be imprisoned since a constitutional amendment stripped parliamentary immunities last year. A dozen pro-Kurdish lawmakers are already in prison for allegedly supporting terror and more than 50,000 people have been arrested for purported links to Gulen.

Hundreds of people gathered in an Istanbul park Thursday. "We want justice; we want a state of law, fair trials. We want democracy, more democracy," Birsen Ayisik, a 53-year-old protester, said.

I think this march is very legitimate and I support it with all my heart just like I feel proud for the Gezi Park Protests. There is a hugely growing support for the march from various provincial branches of the CHP, the main opposition party, and also from some other political parties and NGOs.

From certain aspects, I also support Erdogan's AKP but Erdogan is desperately in need of cooperation with the legitimate elements of opposition instead of insulting them at every opportunity. He needs lessons and probably the opposition is getting ready to give him a new one after the Gezi Protests although opposition itself is also in need of lessons, some of which are given to them by Erdogan's AKP.

I believe that Erdogan and the opposition help each other well in general although they strongly hate each other.