'MARCH FOR DEMOCRACY AGAINST THE COUP'
HDP Co-Chair: At the end of this path are democracy and peace
Photos: MA
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has visited Sultanbeyli district on the Asian side of İstanbul as part of the "March for Democracy" in protest of the dismissal of its MPs.
Tomorrow, they will go to the capital Ankara, the last stop of the march, and release a declaration there, she said. Amid the coronavirus epidemic and demonstration bans in provinces on the route of the march, the HDP members are not literally walking across the country but visiting political parties and non-governmental organizations and holding events.
Forming a "purple convoy," the party's Women's Assembly went to Sultanbeyli from the Sultangazi district on the European side. Along with HDP members, Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) Co-Spokesperson İdil Uğurlu and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Keskin Bayındır were also in the convoy.
At the entrance of Sultanbeyli, the police stopped the convoy and checked the IDs of the people in it. They then did not allow the cars to form a convoy but let them go one by one.
The HDP group then arrived in İbrahim Dede Park in Hamidiye Neighborhood and the party's co-chair Pervin Buldan gave a speech there.
"In this journey that started from Edirne, various obstacles and barricades were put in front of us. They tried to prevent us from meeting with the people. Today, they didn't allow our convoy to enter the district en masse," she said.
"These preventions are fascism, antidemocratic, and against the laws and the constitution. The barricades will not prevent us from meeting with the people.
"You will never be able to prevent HDP's march against the coup. We are the guarantee of peace and freedom in this country. We are the party that defends democracy and peace."
Saying that they would conclude the march in Ankara, Buldan noted that they would continue organizing different events: "This is a long path. At the end of this path are democracy and peace." (TP/VK)
What happened?Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Enis Berberoğlu and HDP Hakkari and Diyarbakır MPs Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları were stripped of their MP status on June 4 on the ground that there were finalized court rulings against them. While all three were arrested on the same day, CHP's Berberoğlu has been released and sent home as part of coronavirus measures. Diyarbakır 2nd Heavy Penal Court sentenced Musa Farisoğulları to 9 years in prison and Leyla Güven to 6 years, 3 months in prison for "membership of an armed terrorist organization." The prison sentences of Berberoğlu, Farisoğulları and Güven have been upheld by the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation. |
(TP/VK)