Millions Rally against Attempted Military Coup in Istanbul
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – More than a million Turks gathered in Istanbul on Sunday for an anti-coup rally to mark the end of nightly demonstrations since the abortive military insurrection on 15 July.
The Yenikapı meeting area by the Marmara Sea waterfront in the city’s European side was transformed into a sea of red and white, the colours of Turkey’s flag.
The Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally was billed as a cross-party event representing Turkish unity in the wake of the failed coup, in which a group of renegade military officers attempted to seize power with tanks, helicopters and fighter jets and more than 270 people were killed.
No official estimate has been provided, but Turkish media said millions had gathered for the rally, the Associated Press reported.
Religious leaders and two of Turkey’s three opposition parties were attending, sitting next to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who arrived in a helicopter with his wife, Emine. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy party, or HDP, was not invited.
The event began with a minute’s silence for those killed while opposing the coup, followed by the Turkish national anthem and a recitation of prayers.
Erdoğan told the rally he would approve the death penalty if parliament voted for it, following the failed coup. In his speech he said the network of US-based dissident Fethullah Gülen, who he blames for the coup attempt, must be destroyed within the framework of the law.
A 60-metre (200ft) stage was flanked by two platforms and draped with massive national flags and banners depicting Erdoğan and Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A roll call of those who died opposing the coup was read out as the event began.
Construction cranes suspended giant Turkish flags beside the meeting area, while flag-draped boats and yachts zipped back and forth along the water.
Following the failed coup, the Turkish government has been encouraging nightly rallies in all the country’s 81 provinces as well as in certain foreign locations such as Cologne, Germany.
The event was simultaneously broadcast on giant screens in all Turkey’s provinces, and crowds of thousands gathered to watch in the major cities.
“Today is a special day, which is making all of the gatherings held for 15 [July], 24 days, more precious,” said Mustafa Yavuz Aycil, a 44-year-old Istanbul resident attending the rally. “I also had to be here today because as you see all of the crowd is showing its reaction to the coup.”
About 15,000 police were providing security at the event. Anti-aircraft batteries were also set up at the event grounds, while two helicopters circled overhead.
Thousands of buses and more than 200 boats were commissioned to bring people to the rally, where they passed through one of 165 metal detectors before being given hats and flags. Those wounded during the attempted coup, and the families of those who died, were given special passes for a seated area.
Erdoğan urged people to bring only the Turkish flag instead of party banners.
“There we will stand together as a single nation, a single flag, a single motherland, a single state, a single spirit,” he said on Saturday in comments carried by Turkish media.
An Ottoman marching band entertained the crowd before the official start of the event, with 240 members representing those who died fighting off the coup.
Turkish media also said a giant screen was to be set up in Pennsylvania, the US state that is home to Gülen, who moved there in self-imposed exile in the late 1990s. The Turkish government says Gülen is the mastermind behind the failed coup and is seeking his extradition. The businessman denies any involvement.
The government has launched a sweeping crackdown in the coup’s aftermath, targeting followers of Gülen’s movement. Nearly 18,000 people have been detained or arrested, mostly in the military, and tens of thousands of people have been suspended or dismissed from jobs in the judiciary, media, education, healthcare, military and local government.
The scope of the crackdown has alarmed European countries and rights groups, who have urged restraint. Erdoğan has lashed out at such criticism, and complained of a lack of support from the west for his government to survive the coup.
