CHP MP's arrest was last straw, Turkey's main opposition leader says during 'justice congress'

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Aug. 26 launched its "justice congress" in the western province of Çanakkale, planning to hold workshops, panels and discussions on Turkey's current justice record.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addressed the participants at the start of the congress, saying that the party "doesn't want tensions or fights, but rather searches for justice."

"We want to live peacefully in our country. We want a fair Turkey," Kılıçdaroğlu said early on Aug. 26, as the crowds chanted "Rights, Law, Justice."

The CHP previously carried out a "justice march" and a "justice rally" after its Istanbul deputy Enis 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) trucks heading to Syria.

'The last straw'

In his speech in Çanakkale, Kılıçdaroğlu said that Berberoğlu's arrest "was the last straw" for the party, adding that Turkey experienced "two different July 15s."
 
"The people of this country shouldn't forget that there are two July 15s. In the first one people resisted against the coup attempt. We honor our veterans and martyrs," Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the 250 people killed and more than 2,000 wounded during the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. 

"There is also the July 15 of the [Presidential] Palace. What we oppose is that July 15. We oppose those who made another coup on July 20," he said, referring to the date that the state of emergency was issued in Turkey. 

Thousands of people have been suspended...