A few hundred people from the Turkish community demonstrated on Saturday afternoon on the 18 Septemberplein in Eindhoven against the political repression that they think takes place in Turkey. This reports Studio 040. Direct reason for the protest was the arrest last month of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu.
He is a political opponent of today’s Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu also wants to be a counter candidate in the presidential elections of 2028. But that chance seems to be lost because of his arrest. Demonstrations in their own country were pressed with a hard hand by order of Erdogan.
In our country, rather demonstrations were held in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, among others. They were peaceful, just like that in Eindhoven. Merve is happy with it. She is the spokesperson for Hollanda Dayanismasi, the organization behind the protest. “The mood was good and positive. We had hoped for a turnout between the two to three hundred people and we succeeded,” she says to Studio040.
“We were able to talk to people and that is the most important thing.”
“We have had great speeches in Turkish, English and Dutch and we were able to talk to people about what is happening in Turkey. That is the most important thing.”
Merve also thinks it is a good thing that the protests take place. “We don’t want attention to get less. There is hardly any criticism from the European Union, because she needs Erdogan and the Turkish army because of the war in Ukraine and the violence in Gaza. That is why he dares to do this. Donald Trump has even called Erdogan his friend, but we want Dutch politicians to say.”
Also in Eindhoven, says Merve. That is why Hollanda Dayanismasi has also started a petition in which the Eindhoven city council is called to speak out against the situation in Turkey. “We did that in Rotterdam, and we succeeded. We want Eindhoven to follow this example,” Hopes Merve.