Turkey police disperse pro-secular protesters
Tear gas and water cannons used to disband thousands marching in Ankara to mark
Republic Day.
Last Modified: 29 Oct 2012 22:59
Protesters carried banners depicting Ataturk, the first president of Turkey
credited with founding the republic [AFP]
Police in Turkey have fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse
thousands of pro-secular protesters who defied a government to march in the
capital Ankara to mark Republic Day.
The rally organised by dozens of civil society organisations and backed by some
opposition parties began outside the first parliament building in the historic
Ulus district on Monday.
Carrying national flags, demonstrators shouted slogans including "Fully
independent Turkey" and "We are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" (Ataturk), referring
to the republic's founding father.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannons after the crowd attempted to storm
a police barricade in order to march to Ataturk's mausoleum, according to
Turkish media.
Some of the protesters were shouting anti-government slogans such as "Turkey is
secular and will remain secular", and "We are here despite the AKP" government
as they tried to breach the police barricade.
The Ankara governor's office had banned the Republic Day rally, saying that the
state's security services have received intelligence that groups might be
planning "provocative" action.
About 3,500 police officers were deployed in the area after the government
declared the rally illegal.
Republic Day is a national holiday in Turkey but it has in recent years become
a platform for opposition groups worried that the current regime is expunging
the country's secular tradition.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and other government
opponents have voiced outrage that celebrating the republic's 89th anniversary
should be made into a criminal act.
Source:
Agencies
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