Creiko
04-18-2007, 06:08 PM
Some 300,000 people have demonstrated in Turkey's capital, Ankara, to demand that religion and politics should be kept separate in their country.
Protesters carried banners of Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of the Turkish republic as a secular state.
The rally comes two days before the presidential election process begins and is intended to pressure current PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to stand.
His opponents accuse him of having an Islamic agenda - a charge he denies.
For many Turks, maintaining the strict divide between religion and politics is key to keeping mainly Muslim Turkey a moderate, modern republic, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Ankara.
Link. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6554851.stm)
Protesters carried banners of Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of the Turkish republic as a secular state.
The rally comes two days before the presidential election process begins and is intended to pressure current PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to stand.
His opponents accuse him of having an Islamic agenda - a charge he denies.
For many Turks, maintaining the strict divide between religion and politics is key to keeping mainly Muslim Turkey a moderate, modern republic, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Ankara.
Link. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6554851.stm)