Republic Protests

Republic Protests
The April 14, 2007 protest in Ankara crowding the Ceremonial Plaza of Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Date	14 April – 13 May 2007
Location	Ankara, İstanbul, Manisa, Çanakkale, İzmir
Goals	Maintaining state secularism Resignation of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Methods	Demonstrations Protest marches Civil disobedience
Status	Ended
Parties to the civil conflict
Anti-government protesters Atatürkist Thought Association Association in Support of Contemporary Living Association of Republic's Women Around 300 non-governmental organizations Republican People's Party Democratic Left Party Social Democratic People's Party Several universities Council of Higher Education 59th government of Turkey General Directorate of Security
Lead figures
Non-centralised leadership Government leaders: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Prime Minister) Abdullah Gül (President) Abdülkadir Aksu (Minister of Interior) Muammer Güler (Governor of Istanbul) Kadir Topbaş (Mayor of Istanbul)
Number
Ankara: ~1.5 million people. İstanbul: More than 1 million people. Manisa: Tens of thousands participants. Çanakkale: Started with 25,000 people, then tens of thousands participants. İzmir: More than 1 million people. Ankara: 10,000 police officers. Çanakkale: 400 police officers. İzmir: 5,000 police officers.

Anti-government protesters

59th government of Turkey

The Republic Protests (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Mitingleri) were a series of peaceful mass rallies that took place in Turkey in 2007 in support of a strict principle of state secularism.

The first rally took place in Ankara on 14 April 2007, just two days before the start of the presidential election process. The second one took place in Istanbul on 29 April. The third and fourth rallies took place consecutively in Manisa and Çanakkale on 5 May. The fifth rally took place in İzmir on 13 May.

The number of people gathering for the first protest in front of Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, was cited as ranging from "hundreds of thousands" to 1.5 million people. In the second protest, more than one million people gathered for the protests in Çağlayan square, Istanbul according to AFP and Reuters. The BBC reported hundreds of thousands of people. Over one million people reportedly participated in the fifth rally.

Turkey's preservation and maintenance of its secular identity has been an issue and source of tension long before the demonstration. In the past, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has spoken out against the active restrictions on wearing the Islamic-style head scarves in government offices and schools, and taken steps to bolster religious institutions. According to the Guardian Unlimited, Erdoğan showed his Islamist nature when he initiated a move in 2004 to criminalize adultery, which eventually failed under intense pressure from the secularist forces in the country and the European Union, which Turkey has been trying to join.