Seeking justice

The most popular topic on Turkish social media platforms nowadays is the "March for Justice" launched by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

However, on national media outlets, there seems to be very little airtime on TV for both the march and Kılıçdaroğlu's bold statements defying the arrogant and much-accustomed statements of the president, government and ruling party members. Was this because of a hastilyarranged "quick meeting" the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had with media bosses?

Naturally, nobody would expect media bosses to become "mujahedeen" of any cause since they neither control the tax auditors who might run after them nor the prosecutors. Could it be enough to distract the attention of the Turkish public away from the march? If in a society over 100,000 people have been kicked out of their jobs, tens of thousands were summarily punished and while over 50,000 have been deprived of their freedom for maybe being part of a gang, no one can turn a deaf ear and blind eye to those marching and crying for justice.

The late Süleyman Demirel, among many other things, was famous for his "Roads won't wear off by walking on it" quote. It was a sentence supporting the right to demonstrate, though at the time when Demirel was in office the police was not that gentle when using their truncheons on the back of this writer.

Now, demonstrations have become an act of terrorism, even if undertaken by an opposition politician. The right to demonstrate, under the Turkish constitution and the penal code, is within the scope of the fundamental right to freedom of expression. The recognition of a right and executing it, however, might be two different...