Big ole' protest in Istanbul

So there was this big protest in Istanbul - although it was a fairly positive and festive occasion. I think protest is the wrong word, it was a show of support for the currently secular system that some believe is being undermined by the conservative officials currently in power. The Turks are worried that the current powers that be are going to appoint a Muslim conservative president, thus consolidating the majority of power with one party - much of which has roots in radical Islam. One quote on CNN was from a Turkish woman at the protest who said "I don't want a woman in a headscarf living in Mustafa Kemal's palace, I want modern people" - which I found to be interesting. Maybe it's a Dior headscarf. Although, Mustafa Kemal did ban the wearing of head scarves in government buildings. The AP estimates that 300,000 showed up to protest (plus me, although I just wanted pictures) and Turkish media says about 1 million. What's 700,000 amongst friends, eh? Most people carried flags or pictures of Ataturk (the deified founder of the republic) and some sang songs or chanted. I was surprised at the demographics of the protesters - lots of elderly and if it's anything like America, they're usually right. Press sources, including Zaman, a Turkish paper, and CNN (which you should know) have quoted the military as declaring their right to intervene in the democratic process if secularism is in jeopardy. I have a friend that thinks it would be "kinda cool" if there was a coup while we were here. He's a raging moron. I have another friend, Turkish, who says that protestors also objected to EU and American criticism. The candidate for presidency is named Abdullah and people wore t-shirts saying "No ABDullah" - and ABD is the Turkish name for the United States. It's interesting to watch it all unfold.