The wave of demonstrations that spread from Ankara to Istanbul and other cities in Turkey reached its height in Izmir on Sunday, May 13, when 1.5 million Turks flooded Turkey’s third largest city in support of the secular republic and to protest against the AKP government and Islamist fundamentalism.
The crowds carried hundreds of thousands of flags and posters of Ataturk, which also adorned every building in the city. The city looked like a giant field of red poppies and the shoreline was choked with hundreds of yachts, boats, and ferries, also decorated with flags.
The residents of Izmir, which is known as a bastion of secularism, were angered last year when Prime Minister Erdogan, on a visit there, called the city "gavur [infidel] Izmir" and suggested they change this situation by voting for his Islamist party, the AKP.
The demonstrators’ main messages were the same as those in previous rallies: "Turkey is secular, and will remain secular"; "No to Sharia", "Merge!" in a call to center-left parties and "Vote!" in July 22 early elections. Other banners read, "I came with my mother, where are you Tayyip [Erdogan]?" referring to a 2006 incident when Erdogan shouted at a farmer who had complained about difficulties that made his mother cry, "Take your mother and get out of here!"
As at the other demonstrations, the crowds were predominantly female –some with headscarves, since they are the ones that gained most from Ataturk’s reforms and principles that gave Turkish women equal rights to men’s - which they fear to lose under Islamism.
Source: Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Turkish Daily News, Turkey, May 14, 2007
