Governor bans entrances to Tekirdağ ahead of HDP's march for democracy

The Tekirdağ governor's office has banned entrances to the province prior to the HDP's planned Democracy March from Edirne to Ankara. The governor's office cited coronavirus as one of the reasons why this decision was taken.

Duvar English

The governor's office of the northwestern province of Tekirdağ has announced that it banned entrances to the province for three days starting early on June 14.

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The move came as the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is preparing to hold a two-track “Democracy March” to the capital Ankara, one from the northwestern province of Edirne and the other from the southeastern province of Hakkari. The planned march, which is set to start on June 15, is a protest of the expulsion of two HDP deputies from the parliament: Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları.

The Tekirdağ governor's office said in a statement on June 13 the HDP's call might “create a risk” in the fight against the coronavirus.

“It is predicted that if such protests are undertaken in Tekirdağ, conflicts might arise between groups having opposing views; street protests involving violence might occur; verbal and physical incidents might arise between participants [of the HDP's march] and other citizens; public order and security might be breached; and physical contact between people will arise which will hamper the struggle against the coronavirus,” the governor's office said.

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