Thousands of Turks demonstrated yesterday in this Black Sea port city against the Islamic-rooted government, which they fear is undermining Turkey's secular system.
The demonstration in Samsun -- the latest in a series of protests nationwide -- was significant, as the city was where Turkey's secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, launched the country's war of independence against occupying powers after World War I.
Massive demonstrations against the government recently have been held in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.
Yesterday, crowds gathered in Samsun's central square and chanted "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!" Protesters carried Turkish flags and posters of Ataturk.
Organizers said participation would likely be lower than at previous demonstrations. More than 1 million people attended the demonstration last week in the Aegean city of Izmir.
The demonstrations began early last month to pressure Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government against nominating Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as presidential candidate, over fears that the party would expand its powers and govern unchecked.
Secular opposition parties then boycotted the presidential voting process in parliament, creating a political deadlock and forcing Gul to abandon his bid.
The decision, along with increasing pressure from the public and the military, led Erdogan to call for early parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for July 22. Parliament also passed an amendment to allow the president to be elected directly by the people, rather than by parliament, which is currently dominated by members of Erdogan's party. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has yet to endorse the amendment.
Turkey's secularism is enshrined in the Constitution and fiercely guarded by the judiciary and by the powerful military, which has threatened to intervene in the presidential elections to ensure secularism is enforced.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS