http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070513/wl ... 0513184817

One million Turks hold fresh pro-secular rally

Sun May 13, 3:12 PM ET

IZMIR, Turkey (AFP) - More than one million pro-secular Turks rallied in the Aegean city of Izmir Sunday, keeping up strong pressure on the Islamist-rooted government after political turmoil forced early elections in July.


Undeterred by a bomb blast on the eve of the protest, demonstrators packed a seafront square in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, brandishing Turkish flags and portraits of the country's secularist founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Hundreds showed their support from the sea, sailing along the coast in boats adorned with the red-and-white national flag. Others shouted from rooftops and balconies over roads clogged with buses carrying people from out of town.

Security was stepped up after a bomb ripped through an open-air market in the city on Saturday morning, killing a vendor and injuring 14 other people.

Some 3,000 policemen were deployed across Izmir as coast guard boats patrolled the waters. Air traffic over the demonstration venue was banned.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Saturday's blast. Separatist Kurds, far-left militants as well as Islamist extremists have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.

Police officials said they did not make a formal count of the demonstrators, but estimated the attendance at more than one million people. Officials had reported a similar turnout at a rally in Istanbul last month.

"Turkey is secular, it will remain secular," protestors shouted, adopting the most popular chant from mass demonstrations held also in the capital Ankara and Manisa in the west.

"We will not surrender the country to reactionary forces," one man shouted.

Banners read, "Unite against bigotry," "We follow Ataturk's path."

The rallies began last month over the prospect of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, propelling one of its own to the presidency.

The presidential election grew into a crisis, the worst the government has faced since coming to power in 2002, as parliament, blocked by an opposition boycott, failed twice to hold a legal vote to elect a president.

The turmoil, exacerbated by a stiff warning from the military that it stood ready to defend the secular order, forced Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to bring legislative elections forward to July 22 from November.

The sole presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, withdrew his candidacy on Wednesday.

Opinion polls, however, suggest the AKP is still Turkey's most popular party.

It has disowned its Islamist roots, pledged commitment to secularism and carried out reforms that secured the opening of membership talks with the
European Union and stabilised the economy.

But opponents say the party still harbours Islamist ambitions, pointing at AKP policies such as opposition to a ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities and public offices, encouragement of religious schools and a failed attempt to restrict alcohol sales.

Despite the huge turnout, the rally in Izmir ended in disappointment for many as centre-left leaders attending the protest defied expectations that they would confirm an intention to join forces against the AKP ahead of the July 22 elections.

Among them were Deniz Baykal, chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), and Zeki Sezer, leader of the smaller Democratic Left Party, whose negotiations for an election alliance have reportedly hit snags.

"Unite, unite!" the crowd chanted, but Baykal and Sezer did not even come close to each other.

Turkey's mainstream parties are notoriously fractured. All but the CHP failed to overcome the 10-percent national threshold in the 2002 elections, allowing the AKP to hold nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament despite winning only 34 percent of the vote.

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I just hope that this pressure remains non-violent.[/b]

religion should never be mixed with government, like trying to control health policies [as it tried to do in mexico earlier this april]