Global Coalition of Peace and Justice (Küresel-BAK), union confederations, rights groups and öany other NGO's gave support to the protest.

Wife of the Palestinian MP Ahmad Saadad, who is under arrest in Israel, Abla Saadad also joined the protest and addressed the crowd. She demanded the release of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons.

NGO representatives repeated their demands: end of US occupation of Iraq, removal of nuclear weapons and closure of the US army base in Incirlik, Adana. This base had been used as a logistics mid-point by the US forces during their offensive in Iraq.

Protesters chanted "Murderer USA, get out of Middle East", "No War", "Resistance shall win" as they marched to Kadıkoy on the Asian side of the city.

On the other hand, extreme leftist groups and some leftist parties gathered in Taksim to protest the occupation.

Global Day of Action

Those protests were part of the Global Day of Action, where anti-war protesters all around the world took to the streets.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of US cities for a second day of protests against the war in Iraq.

Rallies were held in New York, San Francisco, Portland and in other cities. Amid near-freezing temperatures, the New York protesters carried placards reading "Drop Bush, Not Bombs" and "Four Years Too Long".

Actor Tim Robbins said the protest was not "a strange, lefty movement".

"American people want this war to end, so when are we going to start listening to them?" he said.

Blair Jones, a spokesman for George Bush, who is spending the weekend at Camp David, said of the demonstrations: "Our constitution guarantees the right to peacefully express one's views.

"The men and women in our military are fighting to bring the people of Iraq the same rights and freedoms."

A vote is scheduled this week, in the Democrat-led House of Representatives, on war spending that includes a deadline of bringing US troops back by 1 September 2008 or quicker if the Iraqi government fails to meet certain requirements.

If it is passed, the president has threatened to veto it.

Spain's protests were the largest in Europe, with some estimates putting the number of people taking part at 100,000. Protests were organized in other European capitals as well as in Australia.(EK/EÜ)