Thousands in Ankara and Istanbul protest against prison sentence handed down to opposition lawmaker on spying charges.
ADVERTISEMENT
Several thousand people in Turkey’s two largest cities, Ankara and Istanbul, have been protesting against the 25-year prison sentence handed down to opposition lawmaker Kadri Enis Berberoğlu on spying charges.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) addressed the crowd:
“For the future of this country, for the future of our children, we have to fight together. Our march has no links to a political party, this march is a blessed march.”
The 68-year-old leader has embarked on a 425-kilometre march from the capital Ankara to the Istanbul jail where Berberoglu is being held.
The Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced Berberoglu on charges of giving an opposition newspaper a video purporting to show Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking weapons into Syria.
Outside the prison in Istanbul, supporters with their banners and placards gathered amid tight security.
“This is a turning point!” My comments in
PatrickKingsley</a>'s <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes">nytimes piece on #Turkish opposition’s 250-mile march:https://t.co/8rHPBVfgMo— Aykan Erdemir (@aykan_erdemir) June 15, 2017