Turks Rally to Protest US, Israeli Policies

Nearly 3,000 people — from trade unions and non-governmental organizations — turned up for the protest in Istanbul, which passed peacefully, the agency said. “Freedom to Palestine, long live the global intifada,” chanted the demonstrators.

In the capital Ankara, meanwhile, members of trade unions, minor left-wing parties, environmental groups and human rights organizations gathered in the downtown Sihhiye square for a three-hour protest.

A press statement from the organizing committee criticized the United States for attacking Iraq without a valid reason and called on the Turkish government to say no to a US request to send soldiers to Iraq.

“We will not send soldiers to Iraq, we will not let our sovereignty be trampled on, we will not become an accomplice to the occupation,” said the statement, carried by Anatolia. More than 3,500 police were called on duty for the protest, which ended without incident.

NATO member Turkey has yet to decide on whether to contribute soldiers to a stability force in Iraq, but the idea has attracted criticism from both the public and Parliament — which has to approve the dispatch of Turkish soldiers abroad.