World Peace Day celebrations banned in Turkey

Freedom of expression is frequently a necessary component of the rights to freedom of assembly and association when people join together for an expressive purpose. Countries all over the world have been recognizing World Peace Day and calling for peace on 1st September. 

Meanwhile, in Turkey calling for peace is considered as terrorism. Turkish police on Sept. 5 attacked several people who wanted to attend a peace rally marking the Sept. 1 World Peace Day.

The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) wanted to call for peace in Diyarbakir, Van and Ankara but were met with police prohibitions and many people were arrested.

The event was initially scheduled to be held at the Bakirkoy Bazaar Area and Taksim square, but was later banned by the Interior Ministry, as a result of which the Istanbul Governor's Office withdrew its prior permission.

The police attacked the people who wanted to march towards the Tunel Square and blockaded journalists who want to document this incident. An unknown number of participants were taken into custody, including Abuzer Aslan, co-chair of the branch of the Health and Social Services Workers' Union (SES).

Afterwards, they detained Sahin Tumuklu, the chair of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP).

The parliamentarian Erol Katircioglu made a statement: "Today we intended to make known our protest against the ban on demonstrations issued by the governor on the occasion of World Peace Day. For this, we only wanted to make a public press statement. However, the police acted ruthlessly and in a heinous manner against this peaceful intention,"

He remarked that the attack order on the gathering illustrates once again that Turkey has a governance problem. "They are attacking us because we are in the right. We are an important political movement that advocates and demands peace in this country. You have to come to terms with that whether you like it or not."

The national laws regulating freedom of assembly in Turkey are incompatible with international standards. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has expressed publicly and privately to the Turkish government on numerous occasions that curbs on freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and other human rights and fundamental freedoms erode the foundations of democratic society.