Fair march of 450km of 40 thousand people in Turkey

For days, a giant justice march has been launched in Turkey. With white T-shirts decorated with words, the more than 20 days march from Ankara to Istanbul on foot. There are 500 miles [450 km] of roads, and hikers do not find it easy to walk when the July temperatures have reached about 40 degrees.

The movement began when Enis Berberoglu, opposition MP from the Republican People's Party (CHP), was arrested after publishing official documents showing the Turkish government had armed jihadists in Syria, which Ankara denies even though there are videos on it. He was sentenced to 25 years in DW prison.

But the latest move has become a greater uprising against what participants see as a erosion of democracy under President Recep Tayip Erdogan.

There is a widespread feeling that the government has seized the chance to crush all opponents, claiming to be supporters of the coup.

Among the hikers was Ulas Bayraktar, a former political science professor at Mersin University in southern Turkey. In April, it was dismissed by a government decree.

He was one of 1,100 academics who had signed a petition calling on the government to disrupt armed conflicts in areas dominated by Kurds.

The main point is that Kemal Kilicdaroglu (c), the leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which has been compared to Indian independent leader Mahatma Gandhi. He said there is no other way to denounce continuing shocks and worsening democratic institutions. “We feel like we're marching against a wall and we're going to destroy”, he told DW.

“It is our duty to form a coalition against the nation's slide towards fascism”, said Tur Yildiz Bicer, CHP deputy for the town of Manisa.

After the referendum, we told ourselves “No, it's not “... Now we are seeing that even some AKP supporters support our march, and this shows that people's minds are changing for the better”. About 20,000 to 40,000 people are on the street.