Two marches initially set off towards Ankara on Monday from the northwestern province of Edirne and the HDP’s southeastern stronghold of Hakkari province, after Turkey’s parliament revoked the seats of three opposition deputies – two from the HDP and one from the Centre-left main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) – and the subsequent arrest of the deputies on espionage and terror charges, T24 reported.

The HDP’s Leyla Guven and the CHP’s Enis Berberoglu have since been released pending trial, but HDP deputy Musa Farisogullari remains in prison.

The HDP, which has the third largest group in parliament, launched the “Democracy March Against the Coup” to protest Farisogullari’s continued arrest and the years-long imprisonment of former HDP co-chairs Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, several former deputies, thousands of party members and 21 mayors. A total of 45 HDP-appointed municipal mayors have been dismissed from office on terrorism charges.

After the two marches converged in Ankara, the HDP called for Turkey’s opposition parties “act together in the struggle for democracy".

“The ideal of democratic and communal living is the common denominator and value of our people,” T24 quoted a press release by the Turkish leftist party as saying.

Political pundits have pointed to the lack of support the HDP found in other opposition parties. Before the march, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said HDP demonstration was untimely, and the parliamentary revocations were a ploy by the Turkish government to push the opposition into street protests.

"Conditions today are very different. I find a march under these circumstances wrong. The CHP must be different from other opposition parties,” Kilicdaroglu had said on June 7. “We must abstain from any acts that create tension and are open to provocation.”

Many Turkish provinces have banned all gatherings and marches, invoking measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19. Turkish security forces have attacked the marchers in several cases and many mainstream TV channels have covered the marches, but failed to invite any HDP members as guests to discuss them.

Reporter’s code: 50101