The Turkish community demonstrated on 18 Septemberplein last Saturday against the political repression in Turkey.
One month ago the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested. İmamoğlu is a political opponent of the current president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdoğan. The latter suppresses any protest in reaction to İmamoğlu’s arrest with the use of force.
Merve, spokesperson of Hollanda Dayanismasi, the organisation behind the demonstration, is therefore pleased with how the afternoon panned out. “The atmosphere was good and positive because there are also major protests in Turkey today. We were hoping for a turnout of some 200 to 300 people and that hope was justified.”
“We had fine speeches in Turkish, English and Dutch and we have been able to have discussions about what is happening in Turkey. That is of prime importance”.
Attention
Immediately after the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul, there was a great deal of media attention for the situation in Turkey, but Merve sees how that attention is ebbing away.
“We do not want attention to ebb. The European Union voices hardly any criticism because they need Erdogan and the Turkish army due to the war in Ukraine and the violence in Gaza. That is why he dares to do this. Trump even called Erdogan his friend, but we want the repression to stop and that is why Dutch politicians need to speak out.”
Petition
To this end, Hollanda Dayanismasi drew up a petition asking the city government to speak out against the situation in Turkey. “We did the same thing in Rotterdam, and that was a success. We want Eindhoven to follow that example”, says Merve.
Source: Studio040
Translated by Greta
