Secular Turks protest ahead of early elections

Source: Reuters

IZMIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets of Izmir on Sunday, stepping up pressure on the Islamist-rooted government with a rally to demand that their country remain a secular state.

Organisers hoped the protest, which they expected to attract two million people, would unite the opposition ahead of elections in July.

The rally was overshadowed by a bombing on Saturday in the city which killed one man and injured 14. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

Streets and buildings in Turkey's third largest city, including army barracks, were covered in a sea of red Turkish flags and portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey.

"Turkey is secular and will


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070513/wl_nm/turkey_protest_dc

Thanks for posting this maddezmom.

And happy Mother's Day!

Some 1.5 million protesters carried anti-government banners, red-and-white Turkish flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the secular republic in 1923. Turkish flags hung from balconies and windows, as well as buses and fishing boats and yachts bobbing in Izmir's bay.




(AP) Demonstrators wave Turkish flags during a pro-secular rally in Izmir, western Turkey, Sunday, May...

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