Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the strengthening of Turkey's secular system on Saturday after a religious fanatic assassinated a judge, sparking criticism of the Islamist-rooted government. "We should all make efforts to strengthen democracy, secularism... and the rule of law," Erdogan said in response to angry anti-Islamist and anti-government protests.A gunman shouting "I'm a soldier of Allah" burst into the Council of State on Wednesday, killing a senior judge and wounding four others, in what he said was a move "to punish" the court for upholding a ban on headscarves in public institutions and universities.
Erdogan's government has been accused of emboldening religious extremists by voicing its opposition to the headscarf ban and through its frequent harsh criticism of court rulings. At a mass funeral of the slain judge Thursday, furious protestors called Erdogan "a murderer," demanded the government's resignation and boeed and jostled senior ministers attending the ceremony.