CHP hopes upcoming ‘justice congress’ will unite Turkey’s different political views

ANKARA

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The upcoming “justice congress” that the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) will hold in the western Turkish province of Çanakkale will welcome participants of various political backgrounds, CHP Deputy Chair Aykut Erdoğdu has said.

“Very important names representing conservative and liberal wings of politics such as Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır, Hüsamettin Cindoruk, Abdullatif Şener and Nesrin Nas will participate in the congress. Legendary political economist Korkut Boratav will speak, as well as scientists,” Erdoğdu told daily Cumhuriyet on Aug. 18.

He added that panels and conferences will focus on justice in “courts, the state, life, elections, beliefs, education, everyday life and the media.”

The CHP is preparing to hold a four-day “Justice Congress” from Aug. 26 to 30 at the Kabatepe historical site in Çanakkale, where a crucial battle against invading Allied Forces during the First World War took place in 1915. 

“The event will be a kind of tent-city or justice fair on the camp site. The applications of people who want to attend the congress are still ongoing. We are also receiving opinions and recommendations,” Erdoğdu said. 

“Those who want to stay in the camping site have to notify the CHP, otherwise they will have to bring their own tents or arrange their accommodation in nearby locations,” he added. 

The site will host a “memory street,” where the stories of key events marking injustices in Turkish history will be exhibited, Erdoğdu noted, adding that participants will have the opportunity to express their own stories with the help of a “justice box” and these stories will be collected in a book. 

In addition to panels, there will also be workshops on problem areas in justice, including the “problems of police and army members, the relatives of coup attempt martyrs, academics and disabled people.” 

Erdoğdu stressed that the CHP will be a participant, rather than the main center of the event, emphasizing that the congress “will be without the brand of political parties.”

“There will be differences of opinions and nobody will be accused over their opinions. But of course it will be forbidden to praise violence, crime and terrorism,” he said.