The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the İYİ (Good) Party have planned competing rallies across major cities this weekend, clashing over rival political messaging on the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative.
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party has called on supporters to attend “Freedom Rallies” scheduled for June 27 and 28 in Diyarbakır, Van, Istanbul and Mersin. The events are linked to demands for the release of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
In response, nationalist İYİ Party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu has called for a large rally in Ankara on June 27, positioning the gathering as a counter-mobilization to the DEM Party events.
The İYİ Party has been the only major parliamentary party to reject participation in the government-backed “terror-free Türkiye” process.
As part of that campaign, PKK has previously announced a ceasefire and later declared its intention to dissolve itself and lay down arms, a development the government has described as a significant step toward ending decades of violence.
