Mass demonstration in Izmir for a secular Turkey (Roundup)

May 13, 2007, 16:30 GMT

Istanbul - Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of the western Turkish city of Izmir Sunday morning to protest against the conservative Islamic government and to demand the maintenance of the separation between religion and state.

The demonstration in Izmir, which passed without incident, came one day after a bombing in which one person was killed and 14 injured at a market in the city.

The crowds of protestors, which Turkish television estimated at 1 million, stretched back for kilometres from the site of the main demonstration.

The protestors were waving the red national flag with a white star and crescent and carrying posters of the founding father of modern secular Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the reports said.

Flags were also waved from ships and boats in the coastal city as the mass demonstration featuring music and song took on a festival air.

The protest movement was sparked by an attempt to have the ruling AK Party Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul elected as president by parliament.

After the parliamentary vote failed to reach quorum - caused, it is believed, by a stern warning from the Turkish military against the Islamization of the state - lawmakers called for fresh elections on July 22 as a way out of the crisis.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for Saturday's bomb attack in Izmir and there were no indications whether the blast was connected to the demonstration.

More than a million people have taken to the streets across Turkey in recent weeks in protest at Gul's candidacy and in support of secular traditions.