An average of 5,000 people a day are participating in a “March of Justice” launched by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu last week, the t24 website reported on Friday.
Kılıçdaroğlu initiated the march in Ankara in protest of the arrest of CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week for leaking information for a report on National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks transporting weapons to jihadists in Syria.
The participants of the march, which is expected to increase during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Turkey, had walked 158 kilometers out of 432 by Friday, the ninth day of the march, expected to last for 25 days and end at Maltepe Prison, where Berberoğlu is jailed.
In the meantime, CHP Vice Chairman Tekin Bingöl criticized attempts at provocation during the march and said: “This is not the CHP’s march alone. This is a march attended by a large group of people after our chairman initiated it and called for ‘justice.’ This is a march in which 5,000 people are participating every day.”
In a statement made before starting the march on Friday, Kılıçdaroğlu said Berberoğlu’s lawyers would file an application at the Constitutional Court demanding his release.
He also responded to criticism of the march from Grand Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici, who said Kılıçdaroğlu organized the march to keep together the “no” front of a referendum held in April. In his response, Kılıçdaroğlu suggested avoiding commenting on Destici’s remarks, saying that he respects his opinion.