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Turks protest over judge shooting

Protesters gathered at the mausoleum of Ataturk

Tens of thousands of Turks have turned funeral ceremonies for a judge shot by a suspected Islamist gunman, into a mass show of support for secularism.

They waved Turkish flags and chanted for the country to remain secular on marches through the capital Ankara.

A man calling himself "a soldier of Allah" shot dead Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin and wounded four others at a top administrative court on Wednesday.

He was immediately arrested. At least three others have since been detained.

The attack is believed to have been linked to the court's record of strictly upholding the ban on Muslim headscarves in universities and government offices.

The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has Islamist roots, has been campaigning for the regulations to be relaxed or removed.

However, at the judge's funeral at Ankara's main mosque, many protesters chanted slogans calling for the government to resign, calling cabinet members a threat to the secular republic.

Ministers who attended the service were booed

Earlier, at least 15,000 protesters, from students to judges dressed in their robes, marched to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey.

"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," many chanted, in a procession broadcast live on national television.

A wreath of red and white carnations, the colours of the Turkish flag, was laid at the mausoleum. Some protesters were tearful as they kissed the building's marble stones.

'Martyr'

Thousands also went to pay their respects to Judge Ozbilgin, whose coffin was taken to the courthouse where the attack took place.

Key members of Turkey's secular establishment - including the Turkish chief of staff and top judges - stood around the coffin, which was draped in the Turkish flag and covered in flowers.

Aslan Alpaslan reportedly shouted Allahu akbar as he opened fire
"Today we're sending a martyr to eternal life," Sumru Cortoglu, President of the Council of State, Turkey's chief administrative court, told the crowds.

"The bullet that was fired into his brain was fired against the Turkish republic. But the life of people like him will help us keep the republic alive for ever."

The gunman reportedly burst into a committee meeting of the Council of State, shouting "Allahu akbar!" (God is great) as he fired his weapon.

The suspect has been identified as Aslan Alpaslan, 29. He was apparently carrying papers that identified him as a lawyer - although it is not known if these were genuine - and made it past security guards undetected.

Mr Erdogan was quick to condemn the attack, and said the culprit would be severely punished.

The semi-official news agency Anatolia says the four other judges injured in the attack are now in a stable condition.

The secular President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who was applauded as he attended the funeral, warned that "no-one will be able to overthrow the [secular] regime".

Turkish secularists rally over attack
By Pam O'Toole
BBC News

An attack on Turkey's top administrative court has brought to the surface simmering tensions between secularists and Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party, which has Islamist roots.

Many protesters felt Turkey's secular heritage had been attacked
Turkish media have described the gunman as an Islamist and the incident is being linked to a court ruling earlier this year barring a teacher from promotion because she wore a headscarf.

Wednesday's attack, in which one judge was killed and four others injured, has become a rallying point for Turkish secularists - one columnist referred to it as "Turkey's September 11th".

The country's President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, himself a former judge, described it as "an attack on the secular republic".

Many thousands of people came onto the streets of Ankara to mourn the murdered judge and defend the country's secular constitution.

Government ministers attending the funeral were met with chants of "murderers out" and calls for their resignations.

The country's powerful military, which regards itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular state, turned out in force.

Cabinet ministers at the funeral were heckled by protesters

The shooting has brought to the surface simmering tensions between the overwhelmingly Muslim, but staunchly secular, Turkish establishment and the governing Justice and Development Party.

Secularism is the cornerstone of the modern Turkish state, which was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

However, political Islam has been on the rise in Turkey over the past decade.

Members of the secular establishment have long been suspicious of the Justice and Development Party's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who once served a jail term for reciting an anti-secular poem.

Headscarf row

Despite his insistence that his party has changed, they allege it has not entirely shaken off its Islamist roots and accuse it of quietly trying to put religion at the heart of Turkey's government and society.

Opposition politicians also accuse the government of encouraging this week's attack on the court by criticising that court's earlier ruling on the headscarf ban.

The ban has become the symbol of deep divisions over the role of religion in Turkey.

Women are not allowed to wear headscarves in government buildings, schools, universities or at public ceremonies.

The press has said the gunman was an Islamist
That has led to rows in the past, for instance when the staunchly secular president refused to invite any headscarf-wearing wives of top officials, including Mr Erdogan's, to an official reception.

Many secular Turks regard the headscarf as a threat - a symbol of radical Islam.

Mr Erdogan has made it clear that he would like to see the ban overturned, something which would be welcomed by his party's religious grassroots.

However, he has made no real move to do so, perhaps realising that this would prompt a major confrontation with the secularist establishment.

This includes the army, which mounted three coups between 1960 and 1980 and, less than a decade ago, helped to ease Turkey's first Islamist prime minister from power.

The fact that the attack on the court is being linked to the headscarf issue has re-opened old political wounds.

They may be difficult to heal, particularly with another possible flashpoint between the Justice and Development Party and secularists looming next year - the election of a new president to replace Mr Sezer.