Protest against Islamist PM draws 200,000

Hundreds thousands of people from all over Turkey gathered in Ankara yesterday for a mass rally aiming to discourage Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a conservative with an Islamist political past, from running for the presidency.

Protesters on the government to resign and chanted slogans including, "We don't want an imam as president."

Erdogan, who has brandished his strong religious convictions while at the same time pushing Turkey toward EU membership, represents a challenge to secularists' traditional approach to government in this 99-percent Muslim country. Many fear that if he or someone close to him wins the presidency, the government will be able to implement an Islamist agenda without opposition.

But with Erdogan's popularity and firm control over parliament, his opponents may have little power to stop him if he does decide to run. His party was elected to an overwhelming majority in parliament and can appoint whoever it wants to the presidency.

The pro-secular military retains a strong influence over politics, however, and in 1997 generals pressured Erdogan's mentor out of the prime minister's office because he was viewed as excessively religious. Any serious tensions between the government and the military could have a serious effect on the economy, analysts warn.

Tens thousands traveled from across the country overnight to attend the rally in downtown Ankara. Police cordoned off the meeting area -- near the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey and the symbol of its secular identity. Police on the scene estimated the crowd at more than 200,000.

Many in the capital hung flags out of their balconies or windows in support of the rally.

Protesters shouted: "Turkey is secular and will remain secular."

"I'm here to prevent Recep Tayyip Erdogan from becoming president," said Serkan Ozcan, a 30-year-old engineer who traveled nearly 600km from Izmir to attend the rally. "Never has someone of that mentality been president and never will there be."

Turkey's pro-secular president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, said on Friday that the threat Islamic fundamentalism posed to the country was higher than ever -- a warning clearly directed at Erdogan.

"For the first time, the pillars of the secular republic are being openly questioned," Sezer said in an address to military officers.

Erdogan's denies it has an Islamic agenda, but critics say the government is inching the country toward increased religious rule.

Sezer down on May 16. Parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from Erdogan's party, will elect the new president early next month. Erdogan's party was expected to announce its candidates for the position this month.