Turkey: Istanbul hold a sit in protest by Sahan Nuhoglu
A sit in protest by Turkey's main oppositon is organised at Taksim square, the heart of Istanbul, as AKP government proposed Turkey's parliament to vote on Wednesday (April 18th) in favor of extending a state of emergency. Police blocked the access to the city's main square.
Turkey declared a state of emergency for the first time on July 20, 2016 following a deadly coup attempt orchestrated by the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
Under the state of emergency, Turkey has arrested around 50,000 people and purged 110,000 civil servants to allegedly oust Gulen's followers from state jobs.
The state of emergency has also paved the way for the arrest of other government opponents, including activists, journalists and politicians and forced the closure of media and non-governmental organizations over alleged links to extremist groups.
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