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| Europe |
| Thousands stage new pro-secular rally in Turkey |
| 2007-05-27 |
| Thousands of Turks rallied in the western city of Denizli Saturday in the latest of a series of pro-secular demonstrations against the Islamist-rooted government sparked by political turmoil. Brandishing Turkish flags, the demonstrators packed a main square of the city, which has recently come to the fore as a center of increasing Islamist activities. "Turkey is secular, it will remain secular," the protestors chanted. No figures were given for the numbers of demonstrators, but television reports said the rally attracted participants from nearby cities as well. The crowd also condemned a suicide bomb attack in the capital Ankara Tuesday which killed six people and injured more than 100. Turkish officials have said the attack tallied with the past practices of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group fighting a violent 22-year campaign for self-rule for the Kurdish minority. The rebels have denied involvement in the suicide bombing. The Saturday rally, organized and supported by some 30 non-governmental organizations, ended peacefully. Millions have taken to the streets in recent weeks over the prospect of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, appointing one of its own as president. The AKP has disowned its Islamist roots, pledged commitment to secularism and carried out democracy reforms that secured the opening of membership talks with the European Union. But opponents say the party still harbors Islamist ambitions, pointing at AKP opposition to a headscarf ban in universities and public offices, its encouragement of religious schools, and a failed attempt to restrict alcohol sales. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #1 Thousands stage new pro-secular rally in Turkey They'd better. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-27 08:16 |