27 June 2017•Update: 27 June 2017
ANKARA
The leader of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has called on supporters to remain calm when faced with provocation as the party leader embarks on his 13th day of protest march from Ankara to Istanbul.
The march was launched on June 15 by CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu following the jailing of CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoglu, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for giving a newspaper information on the transportation of arms to Syria.
"We walk for them. We walk for justice. We walk together. Nobody needs to be disturbed,” Kilicdaroglu said while speaking to the reporters at a highway tourist facility in the northwestern Bolu province on Tuesday.
He also revealed that the CHP had prepared a list of 12 guidelines for its supporters.
"We will give it to everyone participating [in the march]. We said 'Do not attack or use a strong language against those who protest us for any reason. Just applaud them and whatever they say’.
“This shows our democratic attitude, shows our adherence to justice, shows how much we value the judicial system, and shows how much we value people," said Kilicdaroglu, who did not make available said list to reporters.
The CHP leader intends to complete the 450-km (280-mile) march from the capital to Maltepe prison in Istanbul, where Berberoglu is being held, in 24 days.
He is being accompanied by CHP deputies and supporters as well as family members.
Berberoglu was convicted of revealing state secrets by passing images to the Cumhuriyet newspaper concerning the search of National Intelligence Organization trucks en route to Syria in January 2014.
He is the first CHP deputy to be imprisoned in recent years.
Reporting by Mehmet Tosun and Aykut Karadag;Writing by Sibel Ugurlu
