Red sea: ‘Millions’ attend Istanbul rally to condemn Turkish coup attempt

Turkey will continue fighting whatever powers seek to undermine the government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Sunday as he addressed a massive flag-waving rally in Istanbul in the wake of the country’s abortive July 15 coup.

The Yenikapi meeting area by the Marmara Sea waterfront in Istanbul’s European side was transformed into a sea of red and white, the colours of Turkey’s flag. No official crowd figure was provided, but Turkish media said millions attended. The event was so full that large crowds were turned away at the gates, spilling into surrounding streets.

“As a state and as a nation we need to analyse the July 15 coup attempt very well. We need to evaluate well not just those who engaged in this treachery, but the powers behind them, the motives that made them take action,” Erdogan told the cheering crowd.

He spoke from a 60-metre stage framed by two platforms and draped with massive national flags and banners depicting Erdogan and Turkey’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The “Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally” was billed as a cross-party event representing Turkish unity in the wake of the failed coup, in which a group of renegade military officers attempted to seize power with tanks, helicopters and fighter jets, leaving more than 270 people dead.