Crowds have been lining the streets of Istanbul to watch a parade marking Republic Day.

The Republic of Turkey was founded 91 years ago by soldier-tuned-politician Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

It came as the country emerged from its imperial days under the Ottoman Empire, following its collapse during World War I.

Pomp, ceremony and stamping feet.

Bands parade through the streets of Istanbul.

This parade is marking the 91st anniversary of the foundation of modern Turkey.

On 29 October 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military officer who fought against the British in Gallipoli, founded the modern Turkish Republic - which would be based on democracy, secularism, nationalism and equality for women.

Mehmet Karli, Professor of law at Galatasary University says Mustafa and his followers "changed the political system."

"On the 29th of October, they declared the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, therefore, the end of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Ottoman Dynasty. But of course, the declaration of Republic, and following reforms, the republican reforms, they are not solely, they are not only about a change of governmental system," he adds.

But reforms brought in by the pro-Islamic Justice and Democracy Party (AKP), which has been in power for more than a decade, have left some in society questioning whether values of the Republic of Turkey have been eroded.

"There is a certain reaction within certain sections of society as against the policies of the present government. AKP has been in power for the last 12 years, and it has become clear that they are promoting different values than the ideals of Republic," says Karli.

"The ideals of Republic, I just tried to describe them, secularism, westernisation, equal role for the women, a peaceful and pacifist policy in its region and respecting the equality of other states in its region, and all these things. Those were the republican ideals, and a lot of people feel that those ideals are under attack by the AKP government."

Dignitaries salute the crowds gathered here in Istanbul including 1st Army Commander, Salih Zeki Colak; Istanbul's governor, Vasip Sahin; and Istanbul's mayor, Kadir Topbas.

AP Television

Istanbul, Turkey - 29 October 2014

1. Wide of march, band from air force academy

2. Close-up of boots marching

3. Pan left across march, pull out

4. Mid of audience

5. Mid of marching band of Kuleli Military High School

6. Close-up of faces, Commander of the 1st Army, Salih Zeki Colak (left); Istanbul governor, Vasip Sahin (middle); Istanbul mayor, Kadir Topbas (right), in background

7. Wide of march of students from naval high school

8. Close-up of boots marching

9. Various of infantryman

10. Various of tanks

11. Wide of students from Istanbul High School marching

12. Close-up of students

13. Mid of military brass band

14. Wide of marching band of Fatih Female Anatolian Religious Vocational High School

15. Mid of marching band of International Fatih Sultan Mehmet Religious Vocational High School

16. Mid of march of Turkish World Research Foundation

++NIGHT SHOTS++

17. Various of Mehmet Karli stood on balcony of office

18. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mehmet Karli, Professor of law, Galatasary University:

"Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his followers, they changed the political system in Turkey 91 years ago, and on the 29th of October, they declared the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, therefore, the end of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Ottoman Dynasty. But of course, the declaration of the Republic, and following reforms, the republican reforms, they are not solely, they are not only about a change of governmental system."

19. Cutaway of hands

20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mehmet Karli, Professor of law, Galatasary University:

"There is a certain reaction within certain sections of society as against the policies of the present government. AKP has been in power for the last 12 years, and it has become clear that they are promoting different values than the ideals of the Republic. The ideals of the Republic, I just tried to describe them, secularism, westernisation, equal role for the woman, a peaceful and pacifist policy in its region and respecting the equality of other states in its region, and all these things. Those were the republican ideals, and a lot of people feel that those ideals are under attack by the AKP government."

21. Various of audience at parade

22. Wide of Commander of the 1st Army, Salih Zeki Colak (left); Istanbul governor, Vasip Sahin; Istanbul mayor, Kadir Topbas saluting the crowds from a military jeep

The plotters of Friday's botched coup attempt in Turkey may have been expecting a government move against them, causing them to hurry into a hastily conducted pre-emptive strike, said Gulnur Aybet, a professor of international relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul.

Prof. Aybet, who studies the armed forces, said it seemed clear that the plotters had little support within the military itself, mainly from relatively junior ranking officers, with the exception of the former commander of the Air Force, Akin Ozturk, who was arrested on Sunday.

She said the plotters had seriously misunderstood the reaction their move would have among the population, probably expecting little resistance from society, a mistake that was one the reasons that their coup failed.

The plotters of Friday's botched coup attempt in Turkey may have been expecting a government move against them, causing them to hurry into a hastily conducted pre-emptive strike, said Gulnur Aybet, a professor of international relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul.

Prof. Aybet, who studies the armed forces, said it seemed clear that the plotters had little support within the military itself, mainly from relatively junior ranking officers, with the exception of the former commander of the Air Force, Akin Ozturk, who was arrested on Sunday.

She said the plotters had seriously misunderstood the reaction their move would have among the population, probably expecting little resistance from society, a mistake that was one the reasons that their coup failed.

Istanbul – 17 July 2016

1. Various of Prof. Dr. Gulnur Aybet, Professor of International Relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Dr. Gulnur Aybet, Professor of International Relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul:

"Yes, I mean this is the question that everyone's been asking because it came as a total surprise. Turkey's had a dark history of a series of coups and given how society and politics have changed in this country even those opposed to the government were under the impression that coups were a part of Turkey's dark history and there was no way that something like this could happen again."

3. Various cutaways

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Dr. Gulnur Aybet, Professor of International Relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul:

"There is also within the next month a military higher council where yearly appointments are made and officers are either, you know, asked to retire or new appointments are made, and one of the theories going about is that some of the perpetrators of the coup probably realised that they were going to be out of the picture within a month and they'd already planned something and they thought they would not have another chance to do it, which is why we can see it was a very hastily conducted operation."

6. Cutaway

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Dr. Gulnur Aybet, Professor of International Relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul:

"When the military did do a full-scale coup, usually it had the support of the people, or even if it didn't, people were very wary to challenge the military when they did something like this. And what's happened here over the weekend is that, it's also a manifestation of how much this country has changed. And it's impossible for those who perpetrated this not to have known that, not to have known what a terrible challenge, I think it was a big blind spot of theirs, maybe a sense of smugness, which came from a traditional military culture that once, you know, the soldiers are out on the streets and they tell people to go home it'll be just like in the past, people will just stay home and then we'll be in charge."

8. Cutaway

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Dr. Gülnur Aybet, Professor of International Relations at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul:

"There are, I believe, three or maximum four generals here in question. Of course, the most serious is the (former) Air Force commander. But also, a majority of them are lower-ranking officers. So that also tells us something."

10. Cutaway

A field commander of a Free Syrian Army's brigade engaged against President Bashar Assad's forces in Aleppo said on Tuesday the rebels are in control off the ground battle in Syria's largest city despite the regime's air superiority.

Abdulkader Saleh, field commander of the Free Syrian Army's Tawhid Brigade said the rebels "can take control of the airbases in Aleppo" because the morale of Assad's forces is "rock-bottom."

Saleh added the number of "martyrs" since the beginning of the uprising is 29,000.

Activists on Sunday said some 5,000 people were killed in August, the highest toll in the 17-month-old uprising and more than three times the monthly average.

At the same time, the UN children's fund, UNICEF, said 1,600 were killed last week alone, also the highest figure for the entire revolt.

The two major activists groups raised their total death toll for the entire revolt to at least 23,000 and as high as 26,000.

The civil war witnessed a major turning point in August when Assad's forces began widely using air power for the first time to try to put down the revolt.

The fighting also reached Syria's largest city, Aleppo, which had been relatively quiet for most of the uprising.

Last week, Assad said in an interview that his armed forces will need time to defeat the rebels, an acknowledgement that his regime is struggling to defeat the tenacious rebels and another indication that the civil war will be even more drawn out and bloody.

1. Wide of conference table with Abdulkader Saleh, Field Commander of the Free Syrian Army's Tawhid Brigade, sitting in the middle

2. Close of a cameraman

3. Mid of presser

4. Mid of reporters

5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulkader Saleh, Field Commander of the Free Syrian Army's Tawhid Brigade

"We are in control of the ground battle of Aleppo, yet the regime has the air superiority as they control air forces and airbases. They are bombing us with jets, they are bombing us with artillery. Yet their morale is at rock-bottom as they do not have any belief left. This is why if we can take control of the airbases in Aleppo, we will win this battle."

6. Close of flag of Solidarity with Syrian People Platform, which organised the presser

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulkader Saleh, Field Commander of the Free Syrian Army's Tawhid Brigade

"So far we have more than 29,000 martyrs. Yet these are only the numbers that the media has reported. They are bombing Aleppo with 500 kilogram bombs, we still have scores of people that lay beneath the ruins of buildings. We don't know number of dead people beneath ruins and that official number is only the bodies we can count."

8. Mid of reporters

9. Close of Saleh

10. Wide of conference table

SHOTLIST:

1. Various of troops patrolling area near border

2. Various of troops securing the roads near border area

3. Wide of Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) near side of road

4. Various of APC driving down road

STORYLINE:

Military activity continued on Saturday in Turkey near the border with Iraq.

The previous day, an Iraqi delegation held several meetings in Ankara with Turkish officials in an effort to deal with a growing crisis over Iraq-based Kurdish separatists and avert Turkey's threatened cross-border offensive.

On Saturday morning, AP Television filmed soldiers on foot patrols in Sirnak province, near the border.

Turkish officials have been frustrated by the failure of both US forces in Iraq and Iraqi forces to stop the Kurdish separatist attacks, which have claimed 42 lives in Turkey this month alone.

US army and government representatives attended the meetings.

Later on Friday, Turkey's top military commander was quoted as saying Ankara will wait until the prime minister visits Washington in November before deciding on a cross-border offensive into northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet US President George W. Bush in Washington on November 5.

Also on Friday, the top US military commander in northern Iraq said he plans to do "absolutely nothing" to counter Kurdish rebels who are staging deadly cross-border attacks into neighbouring Turkey.

Major General Benjamin Mixon was speaking by teleconference from Tikrit in northern Iraq to Pentagon reporters.

It was the most blunt assertion yet by an American official in the last few weeks that US forces should not be involved in the fight.

The Bush administration has said repeatedly that the border crisis should be resolved through diplomacy.

A regional summit of foreign ministers will be held next week in Istanbul, to discuss Iraq.

The Turkish Parliament last week authorised the government to send its troops into northern Iraq to hit bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish acronym, PKK.

Washington is opposed to a unilateral military move by its NATO ally, fearing it would destabilise Iraq's north.