A Showdown In Ankara

[maddezmom]

A Showdown In Ankara
Turkey is increasingly divided, and the secular Turkey is increasingly divided, and the secular elite is terrified of losing more power to the akp.

Ten years ago the generals who guard Turkey's secular tradition overthrew a coalition government headed by an Islamic fundamentalist and banned his party. This time, however, the ruling party (known in Turkish as the AKP) is refusing to go gently into the night. True, it has bent in the face of military and judicial pressure by withdrawing the nomination of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul for the presidency—a revered bastion of secular power. Yet the AKP has also contested the military's diktat by calling a general election. And it's in a strong position to do so: the party already enjoys a majority in Parliament and widespread popularity thanks to five years of effective rule, economic progress and political reform.

Another key difference between this crisis and past ones is that Turkey's economy has (so far) kept humming along; the lira has even risen in value. International markets have ignored the turmoil because of a consensus that no political party can reverse Turkey's reforms and its integration into the global economy.

Yet Turkey itself is increasingly divided. The secular establishment is deathly afraid of losing more power to the AKP, which draws much of its support from poor, pious Muslims. Secularists despise the party, and are sure that, given the opportunity, it would use the state to promote Islam in all aspects of Turkish life.

I was confronted by such attitudes on a recent trip. One friend, a professor, insisted, "You simply miss the increasing pressures that religious elements are impinging on our daily existence." He and others cited a mass of anecdotal evidence: their children are being harassed, liquor is getting harder to come by, religion has become the key to promotion in public institutions, and many parts of Istanbul now look more and more like the Middle East—boys and girls separated in many public places and women covered from head to foot. "Is this what Ataturk fought for?" I heard over and over. A prominent mathematician said: "You Americans believe in moderate Islam. There is no such thing."

more:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19000113/site/newsweek/

[Selatius]

1. We seem to be going through something similar in the heartland here in the US.

The only difference is I think the religious fundamentalists of the Islamic kind tend to be even more fanatical than the Christian variety here.