Turkey protest over alleged coup plot draws 30,000

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Tens of thousands of people in Turkey protested on Sunday the arrests of university professors and other secularists accused of involvement in an alleged plot to topple the Islamic-rooted government. Authorities reported that at least 30,000 protesters gathered in downtown Ankara. They waved Turkish flags and carried posters of late leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, chanting: "We are soldiers of Ataturk!" Authorities have charged more than 200 people as part of the investigation into the alleged secularist conspiracy to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Protesters will later march to the mausoleum of Ataturk, who established the secular republic following the Ottoman Empire's collapse.