More than a million Turks rally against coup attempt in Istanbul

Prime minister Binali Yildirim told the crowds that the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen – who the government accuses of being the mastermind of the July 15 coup attempt – would be brought to Turkey and pay the price.

Crowds of demonstrators wave Turkish national flags as they gather at Yenikapi in Istanbul on August 7, 2016, during a rally against the failed coup. Turkey's Presidential Press Service/AFP Photo

ISTANBUL // More than a million flag-waving Turks gathered in Istanbul on Sunday for a rally to mark the end of nightly demonstrations since a failed coup that killed more than 270 people.

“We will continue on our road in solidarity. We will love each other not for rank or title, but for Allah,” said president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, standing on a 60 metre stage framed by two platforms and draped with massive national flags and banners depicting the president himself, as well as Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

“This nation will never accept servitude.”

The Yenikapi meeting area by the Marmara Sea waterfront on Istanbul’s European side was transformed into a sea of red and white, the colours of Turkey’s flag. The so-called democracy and martyrs’ rally, which was billed as a cross-party event representing Turkish unity, was so full that large crowds were turned away at the gates, spilling into surrounding streets.

Religious leaders and two of Turkey’s three opposition parties attended, with representatives sitting next to Mr Erdogan, who arrived on board a helicopter.

The opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party, or HDP, was not invited.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim told the rally that the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen – who the government accuses of being the mastermind of the July 15 coup attempt – would be brought to Turkey and pay the price.

“Let all of you know, the leader of this terrorist group will come to Turkey and pay for what he did,” Mr Yildirim said.

He said the authorities would not be motivated by revenge, however, and would act within the rule of law as they track down those responsible for the attempted putsch.

But Mr Erdogan also told the rally that he would approve the death penalty if parliament voted for it.

The rally kicked off with a minute of silence for those killed while opposing the coup attempt, followed by the Turkish national anthem and a recitation of prayers.

A roll call of those who died opposing the coup was also read out.

Since July 15, the Turkish government has been encouraging nightly anti-coup rallies in all of the country’s 81 provinces, as well as in overseas locations.

Sunday’s event was simultaneously broadcast on giant screens in all of Turkey’s provinces, and crowds of thousands gathered to watch in the country’s major cities.

“I have never been in democracy rallies but I really wanted to come this one,” Sevda Bozkurt, a 44-year-old housewife, said in Istanbul. “I don’t want to lose my country.”

* Associated Press, Reuters