Hundreds of thousands of people have protested this Saturday in Istanbul to ask for the release of the mayor of the city, Ecrem of immamogl -Principal political rival of the president, Rece Tayyip Erdogan- whose imprisonment has caused a Building of social indignation against the Government. Protests for the arrest of the opposition leader have been developed for 10 days in cities throughout the country and have evolved in mobilizations of different political sectors against the government, whom they accuse of interfering in the judiciary and of a growing lack of freedom.
From the beginning of the protests on March 19, the police have intervened strongly to stop the concentrations, with More than 2,000 detaineesamong students, leaders of leftist parties, unions and journalists. Of these, about 300 have entered prison waiting for trial.
Ozgur Ozelleader of the Imamoglu party, the social democrat CHPhe called the population to demonstrate this Saturday in an esplanade of Istanbul. The call was critical because it coincides with the beginning of the holiday after the Muslim month of Ramadanwhen an operation starts from thousands of people visiting relatives in other provinces of the country. However, the sacred festival did not prevent hundreds of thousands of people from participating in the call to the shout of “Government resigns!”
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The Turks break the barrier of fear raised by Erdogan
The Turks break the barrier of fear raised by Erdogan
“If justice is silent, the people will speak,” said a banner that waved between the crowd. Among those present there were also posters that remembered other imprisoned opposition politicians, as well as the hundreds of detainees these days for participating in the protests. “Keep firm, do not sink, your parents are with you,” said a banner of the parents of young students imprisoned for participating in the mobilizations.
The families of the arrested young people also enter the Maltepe concentration zone. Hundreds of families have been guarding at the doors of the courts waiting for news of their children – between 18 and 22 years – many of them students accused of participating in protests not allowed by the authorities, a penalty for which they could face up to three years in prison. “Stay firm, my daughter, we support you. You did not take over anyone’s property. You did not bleach money, or stole. You only defended your rights,”said a mother by video call to her daughter, who was inside the court.
“You said that we were four marginalized, look, we are millions!” The ChP leader, Özel, said from the stage, criticizing the Criminalization of protestersthat Erdogan called “terrorists.” “We witnessed an attempted coup d’etat by those who betrayed Turkey, abusing the authority granted by the Nation,” he said, accusing the government of pressureing the judiciary against the opposition parties. “We will defeat those who see democracy as a tool to make a dream of getting to power by the polls, but not going out the polls,” he said.
The opposition party also alluded to the Imamoglu lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, who was also arrested in an investigation for embezzlement. “As if giving a coup against democracy, it was not enough, now they cannot tolerate the victims of this blow to defend themselves. They want to add a judicial coup to the coup against democracy,” Imamoglu declared in a publication on their social networks. “The damage inflicted to our country by a handful of incompetent is increasing. They release my lawyer immediately,” he wrote.