- Title: Turkey's opposition leader launches court challenge as he marches to Istanbul
- Date: 4th July 2017
- Summary: KOCAELI, TURKEY (JULY 4, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CROWD MARCHING DOWN HIGHWAY / SURROUNDED BY RIOT POLICE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING PEOPLE'S REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN KEMAL KILICDAROGLU WAVING HAND AMONGST MARCHERS VARIOUS OF CROWD MARCHING SUPPORTERS OF TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN DRAPING BANNER OVER RAILING NEXT TO HIGHWAY ERDOGAN SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP FRAMED PICTURES OF PRESIDENT ERDOGAN VARIOUS OF KILICDAROGLU CLAPPING AND WAVING AT PEOPLE VARIOUS OF ERDOGAN SUPPORTERS MAKING "RABIA" HAND GESTURE, OFTEN USED BY PRESIDENT ERDOGAN (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ACTIVIST, GIZEM KIZILTAS, SAYING: "I am the sister of a student who had been studying in the Air Force academy. He has been in Silivri jail for a year. He did not do anything, he has no relation to the FETO group. He is 19 years old and has been in jail for a year. They haven't even started to write his bill of indictment, there is no development. That is why we want justice." (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ACTIVIST, NO NAME GIVEN, SAYING: "There is no superiority of the law. There is no separation of power. Turkey has been ruled by the decision of one man. This is an arbitrary regime." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ACTIVIST, CENNET SIRIN, SAYING: "We are not getting tired, we do not feel our tiredness. This is for the happiness of our country. I wish to God that we will succeed in this." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING
- Embargoed: 18th July 2017 17:58
- Keywords: Turkey Kemal Kilicdaroglu Justice March People's Republican Party
- Location: KOCAELI, TURKEY
- City: KOCAELI, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA0016OAZBRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Turkey's main opposition leader launched a European court appeal on Tuesday (July 4) over an April vote that granted President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers, stepping up his challenge to the government as he led a 425 km (265 mile) protest march.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), accuses the government of creating a one-party state in the wake of the failed putsch on July 15.
On the 20th day of his march, Kilicdaroglu signed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against the election board's decision to accept unstamped ballots in the April 16 referendum. Wearing a white shirt and a baseball cap with the word 'justice' printed on it, the 68-year-old then set out on the latest leg of the march to Istanbul.
The protest has gained momentum as it passes through northwest Turkey's countryside and representatives of the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament's third largest party, joined the march on Monday (July 3).
Kilicdaroglu launched his march in Ankara on June 15 after Enis Berberoglu was jailed for 25 years for espionage, becoming the first lawmaker from the party imprisoned in a government crackdown in the wake of the attempted coup. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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