Carrying Turkish flags and pictures of the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the protestors held up banners which read "No to terror" and "The homeland is indivisible".

Security was beefed up for the protest, which was organized by more than 40 non-governmental organizations.

The demonstration follows an army call earlier this month for Turks to show a mass response to increasing violence by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has led a 22-year separatist campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey.

The PKK has stepped up attacks this year and the Turkish military has called for an incursion into adjoining northern Iraq where the rebels have bases.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara would focus on fighting the rebels inside Turkey and seek dialogue with Baghdad to resolve the issue.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule.