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Pro-secular Turks demonstrate against Erdogan
Apr 14, 2007, 11:32 GMT
Ankara - Over 100,000 pro-secular Turks demonstrated Saturday in Ankara against the candidacy of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for president.
The demonstrators carried Turkish flags and came from all over the country, Turkish television reported. They later moved towards the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of secular Turkey, chanting slogans including: 'Turkey is secular and will remain that way.'
The leader of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, was among the political leaders who participated.
Erdogan has not yet officially declared that he will be a candidate for the presidency.
The Turkish president is chosen by the parliament, in which Erdogan's conservative Islamic AK party has a clear majority. The announcement of candidates begins Monday.
On Friday outgoing state president Ahmet Necdet Sezer warned of the dangers of having an Islamic government in Turkey. The danger was bigger than ever before, he said in a speech at the military academy in Istanbul.
The country's military leadership also reminded that Turkey's new president should advocate, not only with words, but with deeds too, the detachment of state and religion stipulated in the constitution.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
That's ridiculous to say US supports the nationalists. They are the biggest enemy of the US in Turkey. They are carrying anti-US/EU signs at the 'protests'. The nationalists only care about themselves. They are anti-US, anti-EU, xenophobic, and are mad because they are losing their influence because of the success of the AK Party. They want to go back to when they controlled the government and made their money from corruption. - Ted VB, Izmir
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Memduh GoranApr 14th, 2007 - 21:07:46
USA is pushing up the nationalist parties in Turkey. There is no evidence that Erdogan is trying to turn Turkey into a religious state. He is an opportunist and he will do as he sees fit for his own future. But USA was not very happy with him as he failed to deliver what he promised to the USA before he took office. Now it will be the turn of the nationalists to serve the USA.
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