Mass rally for Turkish secularism

Mass rally for Turkish secularism

The candidate, Abdullah Gul, earlier said he would not quit despite growing criticism from opponents and the army.

Gul failed to win election in a first round vote in parliament as opposition MPs boycotted the vote.

They are also challenging its validity in the Constitutional Court.

An army statement on Friday accused the government of tolerating radical Islam and vowed to defend secularism.

"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," shouted demonstrators from all over the country as they waved flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

Many sang nationalist songs and called for the government's resignation.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford describes the rally as an enormous show of force. More than 300,000 people attended a similar event two weeks ago.

On Saturday, Cemil Cicek, spokesman for the ruling party, the Islamist-rooted AK (Justice and Development), responded to the unusually forthright army statement.

The military, which led coups in the past, said it was concerned by the party's choice of presidential candidate.

Cicek said any intervention was "inconceivable in a democratic state".

"The chief of the general staff is answerable to the prime minister," said Cicek, who is also justice minister.

The European Union warned the army not to interfere in politics, saying the controversy was a test case for the military to respect democracy.

Our correspondent says the army is sending a signal that it will not accept Gul's candidacy.

Cicek told reporters that the government had the "primary duty in protecting the basic tenets of the state".

BBC’s correspondent in Istanbul says the army statement late on Friday night caused a real stir in Turkey.

Many also believe that it is also a message to the judges in the constitutional court to declare the vote invalid and dissolve parliament, she adds.

The army has carried out three coups in the last 50 years - in 1960, 1971 and 1980 - and in 1997 it intervened to force Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, from power.

The AK is an offshoot of Erbakan's Welfare Party, which was banned in 1998.

The secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), which boycotted Friday's vote, said it would challenge the election in court because a quorum of MPs had not been obtained - a charge the AK denies.

A second round of voting is due on Wednesday and the court has said it will try to rule on the appeal before the vote.