Several million Turks have gathered in Istanbul on Sunday in protest against last month’s coup attempt, according to police and organizers.<br /><br /> The mass rally was called by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and is seen as a show of strength for the leader, who has been criticized by the West for a sweeping crackdown on dissent after the failed takeover.<br /><br /> Banners read “You are a gift from God, Erdogan” or “Order us to die and we will do it,” and many demonstrators came wrapped in the red Turkish flag.<br /><br /> Almost five million people join historic 'Democracy and Martyrs' Rally' in Istanbul, according to police pic.twitter.com/d5AaPmOr16— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) August 7, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Erdogan once again said he would support any move by the parliament to reinstate the death penalty following the failed coup.<br /><br /> “The sovereignty stays unconditionally with the nation… If the people want that (death penalty), in my opinion, political parties should follow the will of the people.”<br /><br /> Turkey's Erdogan says would approve death penalty if parliament votes https://t.co/h3MqjRghDN pic.twitter.com/PyZWT7DOdR— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) August 7, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Erdogan also criticized a German court ruling barring him from addressing a similar rally in Cologne via video link last weekend.<br /><br /> Speaking to the crowd, he said: “That’s Germany… I wanted to connect to the meeting via videoconference. They didn’t allow me to, they decided against it: where is democracy?”<br /><br /> Turkey summons German diplomat over ban on Erdogan speech at Cologne rally – senior source https://t.co/yTo0sbQq10— Dan Williams (@DanWilliams) August 1, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Sunday’s so-called Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally” caps three weeks of nightly demonstrations by his supporters.<br /><br /> Two of Turkey’s main opposition parties attended the rally and even got to address the crowd before Erdogan, but the pro-Kurdish HDP party was not invited.<br /><br /> United we stand!<br />4 million people pro-democracy rally in Istanbul (& >100K in #Gaziantep) - the largest in Europe pic.twitter.com/h0Ib5KIhhn— Mehmet Simsek (memetsimsek) August 7, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Drone Footage from the currently ongoing mass Turkish rally in #Istanbul<br /><br />~ 3 Million Turks, from over 81 citiespic.twitter.com/eWhk4ih4em— ۞Tawfiq⚔Alkeilani۞ (@ShamiRebel) August 7, 2016<br />
