Rally for Democracy and Martyrs: Millions of Turks on the Streets at Erdogan's Call, United Once Again

Millions of people gathered today at Yenikapi Square in Istanbul to mark the end of a three-week mobilisation for democracy, at the call of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the failed military coup, reports the Patria news agency.

Alongside Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and leaders of opposition parties also attended the rally.

Al Jazeera reporter Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul that the rally is “the largest and most attended political meeting in the history of Turkish politics.” It is a gathering called the "rally for democracy and martyrs."

Before the rally, Erdogan stated that it is not appropriate for the West to criticise Turkey's actions, saying they are concerned about democracy.

He reminded his critics that the purge of the Turkish military forces was necessary and that the curriculum and professors in military schools would be changed.

"I compare this military coup to an earthquake, followed by smaller aftershocks. Not all locations have been cleared yet. It is possible that there are people in that organisation ready to commit suicide or something similar, rather than be caught. However, we will prevent such aftershocks," Erdogan said.

In the attempted military coup, 273 people were killed. The coup was followed by purges in the military, judiciary, education, and media, which, Erdogan warned, have only just begun.

Since then, Erdogan has managed to mobilise tens of thousands of Turks every evening at Taksim Square in Istanbul and Kazilay in Ankara, who carried Turkish flags and chanted his name.

Opposition also joined

"The gathering at Yenikapi will strengthen our unity. I am pleased that opposition political leaders will also come there," Erdogan said in announcing the rally.

"A huge screen will be set up in another place. Do you know where? In Pennsylvania. The message will reach there too," he added.

It is in that US state that Fethullah Gulen lives, whom official Ankara has accused of orchestrating the coup and has requested his extradition from Washington.

The "Rally for Democracy and Martyrs" is a government initiative that has been joined by the main opposition parties and was officially presented as the "graduation ceremony of the school for democracy."

In Istanbul, the country's largest metropolis and political stronghold of President Erdogan, a large number of people came to the rally, which will be broadcast via huge screens in 80 Turkish provinces. Security measures are draconian in this city, which is often the target of terrorist attacks.

Cavusoglu: We will bring Gulen to Turkey

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that Fethullah Gulen will be brought to Turkey, adding that the United States, if there is law and justice, will extradite him.

He is on "democracy duty," organised in Antalya.

"Who do these traitors, these evildoers, those who plotted evil against the people and the state, serve? I wonder who controls them, who pulls the strings," Cavusoglu asked.

He also spoke about how on the evening of July 15, when the failed coup attempt occurred, "people, women, children were run over by tanks, and helicopters fired everywhere."

"Now they are coming out from under bridges, from sewer openings. Like mice, they fled to Greece, hid. Wherever you hide, we will pull you out from there, and you will answer for the martyrs and the people," Cavusoglu said.

According to him, "from the attempted military coup until today, it has been clearly shown who is and who is not a friend of Turkey."

"You talk to us about human rights. Whose human rights are you talking about? The rights of those who dropped bombs from the air, or of the women, youth, children who stood up to those bombs," Cavusoglu said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies