500,000 rally against Turkish government

Dear Friends,

I hope the Turkish people remember this protest at the General Elections later this year, Erdogan is finished. This should be an example FOR ALL TURKISH POLITICIANS AND GOVERNMENTS, the people put you in power and the people can take that power from you. Just because you get elected into Government you should not let that go to your head, ARROGANCE will kill political careers. Lets hope at the next general elections the Political parties and Politicians take notice and the people make a wise choice. All Political parties should put up educated and cultured men and women as representatives.

WELL DONE TO THE ADD I CONGRATULATE THEM WHOLE HEARTEDLY.

As for the Europeans being worried about Fundamentalist Muslims take heed and read the below article. YOU HAVE MORE ISLAMIC TERRORISTS AND THOSE THAT WANT SHARIA LAW IN EUROPE THEN THERE IS IN TURKEY, LOOK AT THE U.K., FRANCE, GERMANY BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS.

Turkey should stop begging the EU to let them in and look towards the East for future prosperity and growth Europe is the "sick man" now.

Ataman

By Selcuk Gokoluk and Hidir Goktas

ANKARA (Reuters) - Around 200,000 Turks marched on Saturday to try to stop the ruling AK Party from picking Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as their presidential candidate next week because of his Islamist roots.

The AK Party has its roots in political Islam, and a possible presidency headed by Erdogan has split this secular but predominantly Muslim country seeking European Union membership.

"Turkey is secular and will remain secular forever," shouted protesters as they waved national flags and banners of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of the republic which separated religion and state.

Tens of thousands of people were bussed into the capital Ankara to attend the rally in Tandogan square, one of the biggest gatherings in recent years.

Thousands of people holding flags also gathered at Ataturk's mausoleum, a place where Turks seek solace in times of tension.

Turkey's secular elite, which includes army generals and judges, fear Erdogan as president would try to undermine Turkey's strict separation of state and religion.

The AK Party has a big enough majority in parliament to elect Erdogan, or anybody else it chooses, to the seven-year post as head of state. The party is expected to name its candidate on April 18. Parliament is due to vote in May.

"We're warning the deputies in parliament. We're worried that the secular character of Turkey will be removed if Erdogan or Bulent Arinc (AK Party member and parliament speaker) is elected president," said Huseyin Ozen, a retired teacher.

Erdogan denies any Islamist agenda and says he has broken with his past and is now a conservative democrat. Erdogan, who has presided over strong economic growth and the launch of EU entry talks, has not confirmed whether he will run.

While he is Turkey's most popular and charismatic politician, opinion polls suggest a majority of people in the country do not want him to become president.

"We're here to defend the republic. We're here to defend the women's rights which Ataturk gave to us ... I hope Erdogan will not become president," said Sanem Erdem, a 28-year-old shop owner.

Outgoing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Friday the country's secular system of government faced its gravest danger since the founding of the republic in 1923, in comments seen as a direct attack against the AK Party.

The stark warning from Sezer, ahead of polls that could give Turkey its first head of state with Islamist roots, came on the heels of similar remarks by the powerful army chief on Thursday.

Analysts say Saturday's rally will be the last opportunity for the secular establishment to pressure the AK Party to pick a compromise candidate for the head of state, a seat which carries great symbolic weight in Turkey.

"The road to Cankaya (presidential palace) is closed to sharia (Islamic law)," a group of youths chanted at the rally in a reference to Islamic law practiced in many Muslim countries.

Erdogan and his ruling AK Party have repeatedly stressed that they are faithful believers in secularism, which combines a strict separation of state and religion but also carries heavy undertones of nationalism and a strong central state.

Critics say efforts by the AK Party to remove a ban on Islamic-style headscarves, to expand religious Islamic teachings, appoint religiously minded members to senior positions in the Turkish bureaucracy and to ban alcoholic beverages from local municipalities point to the contrary.