The departure ceremony was attended by Çiçek and Transportation Minister Habib Soluk as well as Hürriyet columnists, children and representatives of civil society organizations supporting the Hürriyet train. AA photo
The 32-day journey of the “Freedom is our Right” train that is setting out to tour Turkey and promote freedoms and rights departed Tuesday from Ankara.
“The destination of this train is freedoms and rights,” Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, head of the executive board of daily Hürriyet, said at the ceremony held in the Ankara Gar.
Jointly organized by the Turkish State Railways, or TCDD, and daily Hürriyet, the train will stop in 25 provinces over 32 days. It will cover 8,054 kilometers over 594 hours, ending on June 10, just two days before the general elections, in its final destination, Haydarpaşa train station in Istanbul. Kayseri will be the first stop on the train’s route.
“This train will tour across our country from east to west, north to south. All contemporary colors of our unitary state will be visited during the journey of this train,” she said.
Turkey is speedily moving ahead to become one of the 10 largest economies in the world, but the country has needs that are more important than economic development, Sabancı said. “This country should be, at the same time, a place where happy people live together. We should build this country as a place where people can live freely, express their thoughts without fear, and where there is no violence at home or on the street.”
Recalling that the country will go to the polls nearly one month later, Sabancı also said the train would become a platform for the people to voice their expectations from the new parliament.
Çiçek: Age of freedom
“This is the freedoms and rights age. Therefore this journey of daily Hürriyet coinciding with the upcoming elections is very important as the next government needs to establish its road map based on the expectations and demands of the people,” deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek said in his statement.
In an emphasis on peaceful efforts to gain rights and freedoms, Çiçek indirectly criticized the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, over its disobedience campaign. “The demands of rights and freedoms should be made without damaging rights and freedoms,” he said.
Süleyman Karaman, head of the TCDD, recalled that this was the third journey of the Hürriyet train when it toured the country in 2008 for the promotion of human rights and in 2009 for the children rights, adding this year’s motto was “What does Turkey demand.”
Giving information on the government’s plan to improve the railroads and to build high-speed railways, Karaman underlined the importance of trains in the development of the countries. “Our many provinces had access to cinemas, theaters, ballet, piano and classic music thanks to the trains, and are now learning to look at the world from another perspective through social responsibility projects.”
The train will be carrying writers from Hürriyet newspapers, as well as other journalists and intellectuals who will also get a chance to meet with some of their readers. The train will also feature children’s theater, workshops, exhibitions, seminars, training sessions and discussions, among other activities.
The departure ceremony was attended by Çiçek and Transportation Minister Habib Soluk as well as Hürriyet columnists, children and representatives of civil society organizations supporting the Hürriyet train
