At least 300,000 secular Turks waving the red national flag flooded central Istanbul on Sunday to demand the resignation of the pro-Islamic government.
I've seen figures of up to a million people taking part.| I passed by the Turkish Embassy today. Ataturk was standing a little taller. |
The second large anti-government demonstration in two weeks followed a sharp rise in tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country’s powerful pro-secular military, which accuses the government of tolerating the activities of radical Islamic circles. “Turkey is secular and will remain secular,” shouted thousands of flag-waving protesters, who travelled to Istanbul from across the country overnight. The demonstrators sang nationalist songs and demanded the resignation of the government, calling Erdogan a traitor.
“This government is the enemy of Ataturk,” said 63-year-old Ahmet Yurdakul, a retired government employee, invoking the memory of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the modern republic as a secular nation. “They want to drag Turkey to the dark ages.” The packed meeting area in the Caglayan district was a sea of red, with Turkish flags draped on people like capes and hung from cars, motorcycles and buildings.
Small girls wore red headbands that read “We are following your footsteps,” in reference to Ataturk. Police cordoned off the area and conducted body searches at several entry points. More than 300,000 took part in a similar rally in Ankara two weeks ago.
This one was organised more than a week ago, but it came a day after Erdogan’s government rejected the military’s warning about the country’s disputed presidential election and called it interference that is unacceptable in a democracy. “The roads to Cankaya (the presidential palace) are closed to imams,” the crowd chanted. |