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It's been 10 days since Issynd Bull's opposition mayor
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or Imam al-Illu, was initially detained, sparking nationwide protests. This is a scene this Saturday, a massive rally taking place
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Since Imamalu's original detention, there's been a crackdown on dissent, police raiding homes
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Nearly 2,000 people have been arrested. That repressive response has been sharply condemned by human rights groups
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as well as political leaders abroad, protests underway this Saturday. They speak to our correspondent, Jasper Mortimer, sending by in Ankaro
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In Thailand. Jasper, just a quick question for you. How are the protests going this Saturday
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Well, they've gone peacefully so far, and it has been a massive rally
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According to the main speaker, the official leader of the opposition, Uzger Erzell, there
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were 2.2 million people there in Maltapeir. a district of Istanbul on the shores of the Marmara Sea
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Behind the speaker's podium, you can see the ships at anchor in the Marmara seat
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On Monday, President Rechip Taib Erdogan predicted that the opposition protests would fizzle out
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But I think from the size of today's demonstration, the opposition has proved that wrong
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During his speech, Usga Azel said things like, let's show Ekrim Imamalu, the mayor of Istanbul, who's now in prison, and the dictator, President Tresch of Tyev Erdogan, how numerous we are
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He also says that in the coming presidential elections the opposition wants a brave opponent And by that he means that President Erdogan is a coward for arresting Imam Malu and putting him in prison
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so as to reduce his chances in the election. Then a third thing he said is those who resist the coup makers defend democracy and the future
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Towards the end of his address, just before I had to come here, he accused state television
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and the most popular private channels, NTV and CNN Turk, of betraying Turks
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And he said, you know, here, as I'm speaking to you now, NTV is showing a weather forecast
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And I changed to the NTV channel. And Asel was right. There was a weather forecast
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A few minutes later, NTV began its news report. and Ekrem imamolulu was item number four
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And NTV did not show anything about this crowd. Instead, it showed pictures of protesters in the earlier protests this week
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of being arrested and frog-marked into jail. And the commentary was talking about how protesters will get sentenced
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from anything like three months in jail to a year in jail
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In other words, it was making the point that to demonstrate against the government
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is a dangerous business. But it was not showing the massive demonstration
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going on today. I changed to CNN Turk and again, the opposition politics
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was low down on the news agenda, but it was not showing the demonstration
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Now, as a Turkish journalist, I can tell you, I find this shameful reporting
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All right, Jasper. Thank you very much. Jasper Mortimer reporting from Anchor and it's
