CHP leader to visit country’s southeast in key tour

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel is set to embark on a six-day tour next week, encompassing provinces in the east and southeast of the country.

Özel will commence his tour, originally planned months ago but postponed due to a broken leg, from Diyarbakır on the evening of Oct. 22.

During his six-day tour, which follows his party’s parliamentary group meeting, he is expected to visit Batman, Mardin, Şırnak, Hakkari and Van.

Özel will also hold talks with several officials at the provincial and district headquarters of his party. He is expected to meet with the mayors of the other municipalities, apart from the Hakkari Municipality, which is under the administration of government-appointed trustee Ali Çelik.

In Mardin, Özel will be hosted for dinner by Mardin Mayor Ahmet Türk at his residence. Türk had previously paid a visit to Özel at CHP headquarters.

Özel will visit the governors of the municipalities along his route.

In Diyarbakır, Özel is expected to convene with representatives from civil society organizations and professional chambers. He is also slated to hold a series of engagements with various segments of society, particularly the youth.

.Local media reported that Özel will deliver a message regarding the emerging political discourse sparked by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent gesture toward the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). A parliamentary session on Oct. 1 concluded with Bahçeli shaking hands with pro-Kurdish DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan and several other MPs.

Prior to the key tour, Özel is scheduled to visit former People’s Democratic Party’s ex-leader Selahattin Demirtaş at the prison in the Edirne province.

Demirtaş has been in prison since 2016 over his alleged role in the 2014 uprising that claimed the lives of dozens of people in southeastern Anatolia.