ISTANBUL — Hundreds assembled in the city's main Taksim Square Sunday night to show their support for President Recep Erdoğan, who urged people to come out and display their loyalty a day after his government thwarted a military coup attempt.
"People from all walks of life are here, and we are happy because the coup failed,” said Recep Alpay, 42. “For one week or 10 days we'll be celebrating in the streets."
Some demonstrators wore baggy pants common during the Ottoman Empire that preceded the Turkish Republic in the 1920s. Erdoğan has vowed to restore Turkey to the greatness and international stature that the empire once enjoyed.
Others donned headbands that were red and white, the colors of the Turkish national flag. Roving bands of young men chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) in the streets, and buses were filled with more women wearing Islamic veils than is typical in this Muslim but traditionally secular country. The government waived public transportation fares for the day to help people travel to assemblies.
“You will fill up the squares. ...This is not just a 12-hour operation,” Erdoğan said at Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque during a funeral for people killed during the attempted coup, according to The Hürriyet Daily News. “We will continue determinedly.” The government said nearly 300 were killed during the failed takeover that began late Friday night.
In response to the president's speech, many in the crowd chanted, “We want the death penalty” to execute coup leaders, the newspaper reported. That would require the government to restore capital punishment, which was repealed in 2004 as part of Turkey’s ongoing efforts to join the European Union, where the death penalty is prohibited.
Not everyone who came out Sunday supports Erdoğan, a controversial figure who is trying to turn Turkey into a more religious state and enhance the powers of his largely ceremonial office. In the process, he has suppressed press freedoms, silenced critics and threatened to end the Western lifestyle many Turks enjoy.
"I am afraid of the mobs on the streets,” said Mustafa Goksul, 21, a student, who expressed horror at the treatment of rank-and-file soldiers who participated in the coup. “I saw the videos of soldiers being lynched by Islamist crowds," he said. "I am afraid that Turkey is becoming more Islamic and less democratic than ever."
Burak Sayn, 29, an Istanbul native studying for a Ph.D. in communication at a Swedish university, opposed the coup. But he also is concerned about Erdoğan’s human rights record and fears the president will use the coup attempt as a pretext to consolidate power and impose his Islamist vision on the country.
Since the failed coup, Erdoğan has arrested thousands of prosecutors, judges, military officers and political opponents.
“I’m worried that Erdoğan will turn around this undemocratic attempt to reach his undemocratic goals with a huge show,” said Sayn.
Dyer reported from New York.
