Erdogan under scrutiny in press

Turkish commentators have been assessing the impact of Saturday's huge protest in Ankara against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan standing for president.

Secularists in Turkey accuse him of having an Islamist agenda - which he denies. He has not yet announced whether he will run for president. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) controls Turkey's parliament.

MURAT YETKIN IN RADIKAL

Ankara was the scene of one of the biggest political demonstrations in its history... more than 300,000 people came together to say that they want to see a politician who is loyal to the principle of secularism, not Prime Minister Erdogan, as president.

TUFAN TURENC IN HURRIYET

It would be best if the prime minister and his colleagues try to understand the messages sent out by both the president and the people... So many people, who came from around the country on their own initiative, are vehemently against the mentality of the AKP. They want to live in a secular republican regime.

MEHMET YILMAZ IN HURRIYET

The demonstration in Ankara was a democratic response to those who want to turn the presidential election into a coup d'etat against parliament. The protest means only one thing: a very significant majority in Turkey is against Tayyip Erdogan becoming president.

HUSEYIN HATEMI IN YENI SAFAK

This demonstration was clearly held to intimidate the ruling party, the prime minister, ministers and MPs. In a way, this was a kind of 'post-modern coup d'etat'.

FERAI TINC IN HURRIYET

For the first time Turkey has doubts about the system... In this atmosphere a compromise is required for the presidency... The government... fed the suspicions about it so much that those who favour a coup d'etat and those who are against it came together in the same area.

EDITORIAL IN CUMHURIYET

It would be a big mistake to regard the demonstration solely as a protest against Erdogan becoming president... it was an interesting warning to the US, which has already made incorrect assumptions about the Middle East. This demonstration gave Washington the opportunity to think that 'moderate Islamic state' is not a realistic model for Turkey.

SEMIH IDIZ IN MILLIYET

One of the things that was reflected on Saturday was enmity towards the West. However, the concepts of both 'democracy' and 'secularism' came to us not from the East but from the West, just like the reforms which provided the modern outlook of the masses on Saturday.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.