A mass march was held in Istanbul today, October 5, in support of the new "Freedom Flotilla" heading to the Gaza Strip. The organizers estimate the number of participants at least 500 thousand people.
"There are no exact figures yet, but at least 500 thousand people took part in the march," a spokesman for the Turkish Human Rights and Freedoms Foundation (IHH), which organized the march, told RIA Novosti.
After the afternoon prayer, people walked from the Hagia Sophia Mosque to Eminenyu Square, where the rally took place. In the hands of the demonstrators were posters in support of the Palestinians and criticizing the actions of the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. Similar marches took place in a number of other Turkish cities, including Ankara.
As EADaily reported, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on October 2 that the "provocation" with the breaking of the blockade of the Gaza Strip by the Global Sumuda Flotilla (GFS) was completed, and none of the vessels managed to enter the zone of active hostilities. 22-year-old Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, who was on one of the vessels of the first group, was sent to an Israeli prison, where, according to her representatives, she is kept in difficult conditions and suffers bullying.
Currently, almost 150 people on 11 vessels of the second group of the flotilla, called the Freedom Flotilla, continue to move to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid.