Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) launched a justice congress in the western province of Çanakkale, demanding the release of jailed CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu and planning to hold workshops, panels and discussions on justice system in today’s Turkey.
Speaking during the inauguration of the congress in Çanakkale on Saturday, CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said: “We want to live peacefully in our country. We want a fair Turkey.”
Earlier Kılıçdaroğlu carried out a “justice march” and a “justice rally” after Berberoğlu was sentenced to 25 years in prison on June 14 on charges of providing daily Cumhuriyet with video purporting to show Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) sending trucks loaded with weapons heading to Syria.
According to Kılıçdaroğlu, 73 percent of 80 million people in Turkey believe the justice system in Turkey is not functioning properly.
Announcing a recent CHP poll on justice system in Turkey, Kılıçdaroğlu said 73 percent of the people attended in the poll said “no” to the question “Do you believe that a just decision will be made When you go to the courthouse for a certain reason?”
Slamming government decrees issued as part of the state of emergency after a failed coup last year, CHP leader said there are 668 children in Turkish prisons as their mother were jailed as part government crackdown on dissents.
“One needs to ask if this is justice. Think about it, you are an academic. You wake up one morning and realize that you’ve been dismissed with a state of emergency decree. You want to seek justice, but there is no institution that you can apply. Because they ban you from seeking your rights,” he said.
CHP’s justice congress will end on Aug. 29.