Tension around election campaign stand of Hüda-Par in Trabzon again on second day

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The election campaign stand of the Free Cause Party ((HÜDA-PAR) in Trabzon had to be closed yesterday (May 3) after reactions and it was set up again today. 

There were many police officers around the stand where the photograph of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was also hanging. One group gathering in front of the stand wanted the campaign stand to be closed. 

HÜDAPAR, Trabzon'da yine stant kurdu. Tepki gösteren vatandaşlar İstiklal Marşı'nı okudu. pic.twitter.com/s0OjuirubC

— Haber61.net (@haber_61) May 4, 2023

Haber61 reported that the crowd did not agree to walk away and knocked down the stand after breaking the police barricade. After a brawl, the police could only take the nearby of stand under control again with difficulty and the HÜDA-PAR members set up their stand again. 

Trabzon Police Chief Murat Esertürk came to the site of the event and tried to calm the group down. 

The crowd chanted "So happy to say that I am a Turk," and "Murderers of Gaffar Okan," and sang the national anthem. The stand was not closed, and the crowd kept waiting. 

What happened?

Frequently referred to as a Kurdish Islamist Party and seen as a counterforce to the People's Democratic Party (HDP) in the Kurdish majority provinces, the Free Cause Party joined the ruling People's Alliance this March.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the joint presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance of six opposition parties is frequently referring to this party stating that the Erdoğan government has made an alliance with the murderers of the former police chief of Diyarbakır, Gaffar Okan.

Gaffar Okan was the head of the police in Diyarbakır at the time and he was assassinated on January 24, 2001. (RT/PE)