Politics
08:55, 27-Aug-2017
Turkey’s opposition leader holds 'justice congress' challenging Erdogan
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Turkey's main opposition leader on Saturday began a four-day "justice Congress,” in a bid to maintain momentum from a month-long march against alleged injustices under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), held the congress at an open-air site in the northwestern province of Canakkale.
"Today in Turkey, it is not one person but 80 million who are thirsty for justice,” said Kilicdaroglu.
"Thousand of academics were dismissed from universities. Prisons are full of journalists. We have not forgotten and will not forget these realities."
Sessions of the justice congress focus on different rights violations.
Kilicdaroglu earlier this summer walked 450 kilometers from Istanbul to Ankara to protest the jail sentence of one of MPs for alleged leaking classified information.
The march culminated last month in a huge rally in Istanbul that attracted hundreds of thousands, the biggest event staged by Erdogan's critics in years. Erdogan also is expected to host a mass rally on Saturday.
7298km