Citizens in Ankara march to Anıtkabir: 'Turkey is secular and will remain secular'

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray Super Cup final, which was planned to be played, turned into a crisis after permission was not granted for an Atatürk banner, leading the teams to refuse to take the field and the match to be cancelled.

While millions of citizens across Turkey reacted to the decision, citizens in Ankara held a march to Anıtkabir around noon today.

"THEY ATTEMPTED TO PUT IT UP FOR SALE"

Making statements before the march, CHP Ankara Provincial Chair Ümit Erkol said the following:

"We had said that the Super Cup final was Turkey. While warning about this, we had not foreseen that the insolence would reach this point. None of us had thought that it would reach a point of insolence that would oppose the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the carrying of Atatürk's portrait, and the singing of the National Anthem. Fortunately, the Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray clubs, their presidents, communities, and players gave the necessary response to Saudi Arabia. However, we must see that the Palace is the primary party responsible for this entire scandal. Those who do not hesitate to sell everything in the country under the name of 'nationalism' for 3 cents of money attempted to put the National Anthem and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk up for sale this time. Fortunately, the Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray communities did not allow this. Once again, we invite the Palace and its supporters to return within constitutional boundaries and to see that the Constitution and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk are the fundamental values that unite all citizens living in Turkey."

Following Erkol's speech, the people of Ankara marched to Anıtkabir with slogans of "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" and "Turkey is secular and will remain secular".