Turkey is today holding its first cross-party rally to condemn the recent bloody coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as his government presses on with a purge of suspected state enemies.
The mass pro-democracy event, to be held under tight security on Istanbul’s iconic Taksim square from 1500 GMT today, was called for by the biggest opposition group, the secular and center-left Republican People’s Party.
But to signal patriotic unity, it will be joined by Erdogan’s Islamic-conservative AKP, whose followers have turned city squares red with seas of Turkish flags every night since the failed putsch.
An AKP official says the party would work to prevent any trouble with opposition supporters, stressing that: “We’re trying to turn these rallies into an opportunity for national unity and a jointly celebrated democracy festival.”
A woman waves flags during a pro-Erdogan rally in Taksim square in Istanbul on July 22, 2016, following the failed military coup attempt of July 15. (AFP PHOTO/OZAN KOSE)
— AFP
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