Who will blink first: in Istanbul begins a campaign of « President » Imamoglu
A rally in Istanbul will be the first signal in a few hours whether the Turkish opposition has the strength to fight the freedom of the arrested Ekrem Imamoglu after a week of violent protests.
Together with our children, our young people, women, men, we will be the guardians of Istanbul and Turkey. I will look at you from Silivri, but I will be with you with all my heart, my thoughts and my words. The top of the mountain is covered with smoke, let’s take a walk, my friends. The sun is already rising, to walk, friends.
Ekrem Imamogluarrested mayor of Istanbul
The rally will also open the way to recruit a list of requests that the opposition hopes to increase pressure on power.
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The battle is who will blink first. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes the protests will disappear over time; The opposition fears that this will establish the authoritarian turn and will further shrink the place for democratic freedoms. Erdogan’s opponents see a long -lasting resistance to create uncertainty that enhances pressure on power, while the business returns to the sense of uncertainty that has reigned in the last years of the last decade.
Change
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In the invitation to the rally, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (RNP), Ozgur Jozeel, invited the young, « especially those who repelled the failed coup attempt on March 19 (at the arrest of Imamoglu – ed.) And on March 23 (when many voted in support of the elevation of Imaglu. Just like an image built by the authorities of thousands of Turks who have overcome the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 – on the street, some with the cost of their lives.
The rally today – at noon locally or at 11 am Bulgarian time – we must measure the forces of the opposition for a battle, which, judging by Josel and Istanbul Chairman Celik, is only in the beginning.
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The day after he joined the public conversation via the New York Times, and while messages still come from him on social networks, Imamoglu will « attend » at the rally: he will keep speech with the help of artificial intelligence.
How successful will it look? It also depends on how many people will join. « We invite Anatolia, we invite Istanbul, we invite Thrace, » Josel’s message said.
There is also part of the rest of the opposition behind the event, including the largest Kurds party.
It has the support of the main pro -Kurd people of People’s Party for Equality and Democracy (DEM), which Erdogan is courting to obtain her support for changes in the Constitution, and with the map of the « peace process » with PKK. « We are protecting democracy and the will of the people, » said a message distributed on social networks, calling for her supporters to be at the rally.
What’s next
Josel said this week that protests in every city are forthcoming – or until elections are convened, or until Imamoglu is released. But he did not get into detail what would come on the weekends.
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- Joosju, Joosel, told a journalist from the closed Media closed on Thursday that there will be no rallies these days, but that his party plans to start a petition with a request to be released from custody (the case against him is led while he is free). The goal is to collect as many signatures as Erdogan received in the last elections in Turkey, which he personally appeared to; or 27.73 million votes.
- A campaign to convene early elections will also begin. They are, by the way, the only way Erdogan will remain in power with the legal election according to the current constitution. Unless he changes it, but he will need Dem’s support for this purpose, as he and his partners from the Nationalist Action Party do not have a majority.
- Josel added Another request this week: the process against Imamoglu should be broadcast directly on TRT public television.
Later, there will be rallies in big cities as a start: Ankara, Izmir, Mersin, Adana, Trabzon, Bursa.
