Hundreds of thousands of people participated last night in a rally in the Istanbul district of Başakşehir, organized by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) against the Canal Istanbul project.
This was the third rally under the slogan "The People Stand Up for Their Will" that the CHP announced it would organize every Wednesday in a different municipality in the metropolis against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and other municipal officials, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported.
Last night's rally in Başakşehir was the first to take place in a municipality that has been in the hands of the ruling Justice and Development Party for several consecutive terms.
People of all ages gathered at the rally, citizens carrying İmamoğlu flags and posters with the inscriptions "Freedom for our presidential candidate" Imamoglu“ "We don't want Canal Istanbul," "We want new elections," "There is no salvation separately - either together or no one," BTA writes.
The highlight of the rally was the protests against the possible construction of the Canal Istanbul project, since the main route of the project leaves from Başakşehir, the opposition newspaper Birgün reported.
The rally was attended by representatives of many civil society organizations known as the opposition to the Canal Istanbul construction project, which has been discussed again recently, the opposition television OdaTV reported.
The chairman of the regional organization of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Özgür Çelik read an address to the participants in the rally from the mayor of Istanbul and presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been in prison in Silivri for 43 days on corruption charges. In his address, the arrested mayor indicated that attempts are being made again to activate the construction of the Canal Istanbul project. Imamoglu suggested that President Erdogan announce a national referendum on the project.
In his speech to the participants in the rally, the chairman of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) Özgür Özel announced his support for Imamoglu's proposal.
“We appeal to Erdogan. If you are convinced that Canal Istanbul is necessary, call a referendum and let the citizens of Istanbul, with a population of 16 million, decide whether they will prefer the security of their city of Istanbul or declare support for Canal Istanbul,“ he said.
The opposition leader indicated that the construction of the canal will cost 65 billion dollars.
“With this money, 1.5 million social housing units can be built and the entire Istanbul can be strengthened against earthquakes. "Since 1999, the AKP government has built shopping malls in 95 of the 470 districts to gather people affected by the earthquake," he was quoted as saying by the Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Hundreds of police, Toma vehicles and tear gas and water cannons were deployed along the rally route.