Hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets of Istanbul

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have joined a rally in Istanbul at the end of a 25-day “march for justice” against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey has been in a state of emergency since the July 15 coup attempt, and the government has carried out a wide-ranging purge of civil institutions in the year since, resulting in the arrests of about 50,000 people and the suspensions of nearly 150,000 state employees.

“This the era of dictatorship”.

Kilicdaroglu said he was against both a “one man regime” and Gulen. “With this rally we witness that we are not alone”.

“We are sick and exhausted of oppression, let equality prevail for all”, said Ayse, who is 63 and retired.

Among those detained was Koray Caliskan, a liberal government critic and former adviser to the main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

“Why do I walk? It is the beginning of a new era”, he said, speaking to a cheering crowd that chanted “Hak, hukuk, adalet!”.

“I’m marching for my rights, the law and justice”.

“Berberoglu found the march “impressive” and thanked the party leader”, the CHP spokesman said.

“The line represented by the CHP has now exceeded being the political opposition”. He likened the protesters to those who carried out the attempted coup, saying they could face charges.

“I want justice for everyone in this country”.

“It didn’t quite work out that way”, he said to laughter from the crowd of oil executives and top government energy officials from dozens of nations.

Erdogan held an unscheduled meeting with President Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday. When the politician began walking, his opponents mocked him and his supporters watched from the sidelines with cynicism.

Turkish voters narrowly approve in an April 16 referendum constitutional changes that will expand Erdogan’s powers, and possibly enable him to stay in office until 2029. Time Magazine also provides this brief video which includes a number of shots of not only the march, but the unrest and government abuse which has been going on. The vote itself was also marred by widespread claims of fraud.

Turkey has not ruled out a new cross-border operation in Syria against the YPG, which could spark a unsafe escalation with the US.

In his speech, Kilicdaroglu demanded that those academics and civil servants purged on suspicion of links to Gulen – who has denied any involvement in the plot – be allowed to return to their jobs.

A 280-mile, 25-day march against the policies of Turkey’s government ended with a massive rally in Istanbul on Sunday. The Istanbul regional government placed attendance at 175,000.

Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said 15,000 police officers were providing security at the post-march rally, according to state news agency Anadolu. The march puts Erdogan in a bind: He can try to stop it, risking violence, or he can let it go on and watch the already large procession of opposition grow.