CHP plans Istanbul rally after Kaftancıoğlu given prison sentence

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) has decided to hold a major rally in Istanbul on May 21 after Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals approved a prison sentence of four years and 11 months issued against Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the party’s head of the Istanbul branch.

“We will hold our ‘Voice of the Nation’ rally on May 21 in Maltepe, Istanbul. No matter what they do, they will not be able to take Istanbul, which our nation gave us with the immaculate votes,” CHP spokesperson Faik Öztrak said on May 13.

“Our Istanbul Provincial President Kaftancıoğlu is in charge. The party continues its work,” he said.

Following the appeal court’s verdict, the CHP also urgently convened its Central Executive Committe (MYK) meeting on May 13.

CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on May 13 called on all the main opposition lawmakers to come to the Istanbul provincial branch of the party to support Kaftancıoğlu.

Making a statement in front of party building, the CHP leader announced that the “Voice of the Nation” rally earlier planned for Bursa was moved to Istanbul.

Kılıçdaroğlu emphasized that his party would not step back.

The Court of Appeals sentenced Kaftancıoğlu on three different charges, including insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and terror propaganda. Kaftancıoğlu is serving as the top executive of the CHP’s Istanbul organization. The court’s judgment may result in her imprisonment and a political ban.

A heavy panel court in 2019 had sentenced Kaftancıoğlu to spend a total of nine years behind bars on five separate charges, including “spreading terrorist propaganda” and “insulting public officials.”

The appeal court has approved three cases while dropping two other charges.

They include insulting public officials and terrorist propaganda through her social media between 2011 and 2017.