Secular Turks protest ahead of early elections

IZMIR, Turkey, May 13 (Reuters) More than 100,000 secular Turks gathered in the city of Izmir today to protest against the Islamist-rooted government in a rally, organisers hope will unite the opposition ahead of elections in July.

The rally, expected to reach two million according to organisers, was overshadowed by a bombing yesterday in the city which killed one man and injured 14. It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing.

Streets and buildings in Turkey's second largest city, including army barracks, were covered in a sea of red Turkish flags and portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

''Turkey is secular and will remain secular,'' protesters chanted. ''No to sharia (Islamic law).'' The rally was set to start at 1430 hrs IST.

Turkey's main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the smaller leftist Democratic Left Party (DSP) -- which are in talks to form an alliance -- hope to use the rally to build momentum ahead of the July 22 election.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government has been forced to call a general election months ahead of schedule to defuse a conflict with Turkey's secularists over a presidential election.

Turkey's secular elite, including opposition parties, top judges and army generals, successfully blocked Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's election. They feared the ex-Islamist might try to undermine Turkey's separation of state and religion, a claim he and his ruling AK Party strongly deny.

The success of the secularist opposition in derailing Erdogan's plans to have his close ally, Gul, elected president has given opposition parties new confidence, analysts say.

The political crisis has brought about mergers between opposition parties in the hope to pass a 10 percent threshold of votes in July to enter parliament.

''Many young people don't feel opposition parties represent them. They don't know who to vote for. That's the challenge for the opposition,'' said Dogu Ergil of Ankara University.

Opinion polls show the centre-right AK Party is likely to win most votes in July but it may fail to win an outright majority, forcing it to form a coalition government.

A series of large anti-AK Party rallies over the past month have again brought to the surface the great divide among Turks, who are predominantly Muslim, over the role of religion amid fast economic and social change.

Izmir, a transit point for Turkey's tourism industry, has traditionally been predominantly secular and pro-western.

It is seen as a key battle ground in elections.

Reuters RJ RS1402