Thousands Protest Turkish Opposition Politician’s Conviction
ISTANBUL (Reuters/Anadolu) – Thousands have gathered for a rally in Istanbul to protest the conviction of leading Turkish opposition politician Canan Kaftancioglu for insulting the president and the state.
Demonstrators in the central district of Maltepe chanted on Saturday songs and waved the opposition and national flags.
Kaftancioglu, who was sentenced to just under five years in jail, heads Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul branch and is one of the strongest voices in it.
In 2019, she played a significant role in municipal elections in the city that saw the CHP take over the mayoralty, which had been held by President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party and its predecessors for the last 25 years.
Turkey’s judicial independence has been in the spotlight in recent years, notably since a crackdown on the judiciary and other state bodies after an abortive 2016 coup and a switch to an executive presidency last year.
The country’s top court upheld three convictions in a ruling made public earlier this month, but reduced the prison term to four years, 11 months and 20 days.
Under Turkish law, sentences of under five years are suspended, and two legal experts told Reuters that Kaftancioglu would not be jailed.
U.S. Envoy Summoned
Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador in Ankara to protest the U.S. warning of its citizens residing in Turkey.
The U.S. ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry over a warning to U.S. citizens in Turkey about attending a political rally that referred to police crowd control methods, the AP has quoted the Turkish local media as saying on Sunday.
The embassy posted a message on its website on May 18 ahead of an Istanbul rally for the opposition People’s Republican Party, or CHP, on Saturday evening.
According to AP, the Turkish Anadolu news agency, citing unnamed ministry sources, reported that Ambassador Jeffry Flake was summoned so the Turkish government could express its “discomfort” over “the unfounded allegations” in the U.S. warning.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Sunday issued its own warning to Turkish citizens in the U.S. It said, in the past, live ammunition, electroshocks, tear gas and “violent acts” had been employed by U.S. police to quell demonstrations.