{"id":42963,"date":"2020-06-17T06:22:56","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T06:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42963"},"modified":"2020-06-17T06:22:56","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T06:22:56","slug":"hdp-march-in-turkey-underway-amid-tough-police-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=42963","title":{"rendered":"HDP march in Turkey underway amid tough police presence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nISTANBUL:\u00a0Turkey\u2019s pro-Kurdish People\u2019s Democratic Party (HDP) is continuing with\u00a0 its \u201cJustice and Democracy March\u201d amid police teargas, rubber bullets and widespread detentions.<\/p>\n

\nThe HDP is often accused by the ruling party and its ally of being the \u201cpolitical extension\u201d of the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK), which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization. The HDP denies the allegation.<\/p>\n

\nEarlier this month two HDP deputies and one deputy from the main opposition Republican Peoples\u2019 Party (were stripped of their MP status, and dozens of mayors have been removed from their posts in the past few years. At least 23 HDP mayors, including the party\u2019s two former co-leaders, have been jailed so far.<\/p>\n

\nThe march began in the far northwestern province of Edirne and the far southeastern province of Hakkari \u2014 two places on opposite sides of the country \u2014 and the \u201ctwin-track\u201d protest is due to converge in the capital.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOur main objective here is to oppose the destruction and the damage inflicted by the government and its nationalistic ally on all segments of society,\u201d HDP deputy Tuma Celik told Arab News. \u201cThe march is a collective symbol that shows to what extent that pressure amounts to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nCelik, who is one of the leaders of the Edirne march, has contacted NGOs in Turkey during the past couple of weeks to seek nonpartisan support for justice, democratization and a solution to the Kurdish issue.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNo one should make this event an instrument for polarization and tensions,\u201d Celik said. added.<\/p>\n

\nThe march is expected to finish in Ankara on June 20. But HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan said the march would continue \u201cuntil peace, freedoms and democracy\u201d came to Turkey.<\/p>\n

\nIstanbul\u2019s governor\u2019s office banned all demonstrations and protests in the province for a two-week period on June 15. The edict was linked to fight the spread of coronavirus, but it came out just after the HDP launched its march.<\/p>\n

\nTulay Hatimogullari, the HDP\u2019s lawmaker from the southern province of Adana, took part in the march from Hakkari.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDespite the high police precautions in the province, the local shoppers as well as the old mothers in the neighborhood greeted us with our party flags,\u201d she told Arab News. \u201cWe are marching toward democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nShe said the march was aimed at building bridges between different segments of society, across geographical lines and beyond political affiliations.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOur common denominator is to stand with the oppressed people. Before this march, I already visited several civil society organizations to exchange views about the democratic flaws in the country and the expectations of people. Basically, we support peace, freedom and job opportunities for people. During the pandemic unemployment rose substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe lawmaker said that the timing of Turkish cross-border airstrikes in Iraqi Kurdistan and the HDP march might be connected, as the strikes started the night before the march did.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe can\u2019t breathe anymore, as George Floyd said. This march aims to give breath to all citizens in a political, economic and cultural sense,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISTANBUL:\u00a0Turkey\u2019s pro-Kurdish People\u2019s Democratic Party (HDP) is continuing with\u00a0 its \u201cJustice and Democracy March\u201d amid police teargas, rubber bullets and widespread detentions. The HDP is often accused by the ruling party and its ally of being the \u201cpolitical extension\u201d of the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK), which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization. The HDP denies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}