Protesters gathered in Lima, the capital of Peru, demanding the resignation of President Boluarte, holding early elections and the release of former President Pedro Castillo, who was in custody.
Thousands of people marching with Peruvian flags in their hands protested the Peruvian government with slogans in the square where they came under intense security measures. The tension that broke out after the security forces wanted the group to disperse turned into a conflict after a while.
TOTAL LOSS OF LIFE INCREASED TO 62
Security forces responded with tear gas to the demonstrators who dispersed into the side streets after throwing stones at the police.
The death toll since 11 December rose to 62, with 2 more deaths in anti-government protests.
One of the most affected by the events in the region was undoubtedly the tourists. Due to the events, Peru’s famous tourist destination Machu Pichu was also closed indefinitely.
One of the tourists in the region is Prof. Dr. It was Levent Sevgi.
STOPED DUE TO EVENTS
Image: DHA
As the term speaker of the International Professional Organization IEEE AP community, Sevgi traveled to universities around the world and gave conferences. In this context, she went on a 3-week tour of South America, covering Ecuador – Peru – Brazil on 10-25 January 2023. Before the tour, Prof. Giving a lecture at the Armed Forces University and Salesiana Polytechnic University in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, Prof. On the Peruvian leg of the tour, Sevgi gave lectures at INICTEL-UNI, a research university in the capital city of Lima, and at San Pablo Catholic University in Arequipa.
Although they planned to fly to Sao Paulo via Lima on January 19 as part of the tour, the situation did not go as they had hoped. prof. Love and her entourage have been stranded here since Arequipa Airport has been closed since January 19. Since the airport could not be opened due to frequent protests and demonstrations, the highway took 12-14 hours by car from the area where they were located and it was not safe. Sevgi Haberturk.com’s İrem Kuşoğlu explained to Görgü that they could not leave the region for a long time, but that their situation is good now.
prof. Sevgi shared her experiences with these words: “The airports were closed. On the sixth day, we couldn’t see anymore. Last night, we took a taxi with a young man and crossed to the Chilean border. We were on the road all night, it was quiet. Now we are at the airport. We are trying to change our ticket and pass. We will go from Lima to Boston. I I will return to Turkey from there a few days later, if nothing goes wrong. We are trying to cross to Lima because it is open to international flights in Lima, others are more troublesome. The highway does not work, the buses do not work, the only way was plane. I think we will be leaving Peru in a few days. “I don’t know if I can find a plane today. Because everyone wants to fly, we try to get in from the reserve. We’ll wait here until 9 o’clock, otherwise we’ll go to a hotel. I’ll try my luck again tomorrow.” said.
Stating that he contacted the embassy when the problems first started, Prof. Sevgi also stated that she received the necessary help from the embassy, ”I wrote to them when the first incidents happened, they also came back, thanks to them. They gave us their mobile number for an emergency, for us to call if there was a problem. I told them there was not much you could do, we found the way out, but I was okay. They were interested, they did not leave it blank. We were going to return to Lima on the 19th. Today, we could not return yet on the 24th. So we were stuck for a week. There was no problem before the 19th of the month, then it got mixed up. Big stones even put up barricades in the side streets, “There were clashes. It was pretty bad. Going to the airport that day was also an adventure. Getting out of there and returning to the hotel was also an adventure. Because everywhere, even the side streets were closed,” he said.
Stating that their situation is good for the moment and there is no problem, Prof. Sevgi said, “Currently, I and I have a psychologist friend living in Boston. He was also giving lectures here. So if we can go from here to Lima, then our route will be Boston. I will leave him and return to Turkey from there. There is no problem at the moment. “We just wait. It was difficult at first, you feel helpless because you have no exit outside of the plane, you say to take a taxi, there is no alternative. Main roads, highways were closed and dangerous. So we made a long journey down to the Chilean border all night. Because the airport here is open.” gave the answer.
EXPLANATION FROM THE EMBASSY
The Peruvian Embassy of Turkey, which we contacted about the presence of Turkish citizens in the region and the latest situation, also responded to Haberturk.com.
The following statement was made by the embassy:
Within the scope of the protest demonstrations that started especially in the southern parts of Peru after the political developments in December, 10 of our citizens who were in Peru for tourism purposes in December 2022 stayed in Cusco due to the closure of Cusco Velasco Astete Airport; With the reopening of the aforementioned Airport shortly after, they reached Lima and left Peru to return to our country and/or continue their travels in other countries. Our citizens who came into contact with our embassy were closely interested and provided with the necessary guidance. Statements and announcements made by Peruvian authorities regarding the current status of airports have been shared and shared on Twitter and Instagram accounts of our Embassy.
After the new year period, in the first days of January 2023, protests started again in the southern regions of Peru. Some groups from the southern regions also come to the Capital Lima and organize marches in the city centre. In the context of the protests that started again as of January, there are currently no citizens who contacted our Embassy “about being stuck in the region”. Currently, operations have been suspended at Rodriguez Ballon Airport located in Arequipa city and Inco Manco Capac Airport located in Juliaca city near Puno. In the capital Lima, Jorge Chavez Airport continues its operations in its normal course.
ACTIONS CONTINUE
Protests by thousands of demonstrators demanding President Dina Boluarte’s resignation and holding early elections continue in Peru’s capital, Lima.
Clashes continue between the demonstrators and the police.
* Images of the news are provided by the Associated Press.