Turkey's opposition leader completes protest march to Istanbul
The march was launched on June 15 by CHP leader Kilicdaroglu following the jailing of lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for revealing state secrets.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), greets his supporters during a rally to mark the end of his 25-day long protest in Istanbul, Turkey July 9, 2017.
Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has completed his 25-day march from Ankara to Istanbul.
Kilicdaroglu started the march on June 15 after a court in Istanbul sentenced CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu to 25 years in prison.
Berberoglu was convicted of revealing state secrets by providing images and videos to the Cumhuriyet newspaper concerning the search of National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) trucks en route to Syria in January 2014.
Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dundar and the newspaper's Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul were convicted in May last year of publishing state secrets.
After completing his journey, Kilicdaroglu took the stage at Istanbul's Maltepe square where tens of thousands of his supporters carrying banners that read "Justice," and waving Turkish flags, cheered him on.
Opposition leader presented a set of demands to the government during his speech, starting with the lifting of the almost a year-long state of emergency.
He also demanded guaranteed freedom of speech as well as the release of journalists, some of whom are currently in prison for having links to terror organisations.
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