Secular Rally Targets Turkish PM

April 14, 2007

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6554851.stm

Some 300,000 people have demonstrated in Turkey's capital, Ankara, to demand that religion and politics should be kept separate in their country.

Protesters carried banners of Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of the Turkish republic as a secular state.

The rally comes two days before the presidential election process begins and is intended to pressure current PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to stand.

His opponents accuse him of having an Islamic agenda - a charge he denies.

Tens of thousands of people were bussed into Ankara from across Turkey to attend the rally near Ataturk's mausoleum.