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Thousands of secularists protest government in Turkey |
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Written by International Herald Tribune
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 |
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Thousands of Turks rallied in the Turkish capital Saturday, accusing the Islamic-rooted government of undermining the country's secular laws.
More than 10,000 people gathered in a square in Ankara carrying anti-government banners, red-and-white Turkish flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered leader who founded the secular republic in 1923.
"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," they chanted.
A power struggle is growing in Turkey between the secular establishment and supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party — which has origins in Turkey's Islamic movement but has advocated Western-style reforms as part of the country's bid to join the European Union.
Last month, Turkey's highest court agreed to hear a case to permanently close down Erdogan's party on charges that it is taking steps to impose Islamic law.
The chief prosecutor who brought the case also wants Erdogan and dozens of other party members barred from holding public office for five years.
The prosecutor's indictment against the party lists as evidence the ruling party's efforts to lift a ban on wearing Islamic head scarves in universities, to lift obstacles facing religious school graduates who want to take university entrance exams, to roll back restrictions on courses in the Quran and to curb the consumption of alcohol with tighter regulation of bars and restaurants.
Erdogan rejects claims that his party has an Islamist agenda.
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