Turkey and Secularism..it works.
Offline http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6603141.stm
Why is the Turkish army so determined to defend secularism, the separation of religion and state?
Secularism is fundamental to Turkey's identity as a nation.
Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a military general, in what had been the Ottoman Sultanate.
Ataturk was determined that this mainly Muslim nation would be a modern, secular country, and he introduced wide-ranging reforms, including the emancipation of women, the introduction of western dress, legal code and alphabet, and the abolition of Islamic institutions.
Turkey's ruling elite and the powerful military have seen it as their job to protect what Ataturk set up.
The army has not been afraid to intervene militarily whenever it sees fit - it has led three direct coups against elected governments in Ankara.
When, 10 years ago, Turkey elected its first pro-Islamic party to government - the Welfare Party - the military campaigned to force it out of office. The following year the party was banned by the courts. 
The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave 
But despite the efforts of the establishment, it seems that Islamic parties are popular in Turkey, and in 2002 the Justice and Development (AK) party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a landslide victory.
The party has its roots in political Islam, but insists it respects the secular principles of the constitution.
The army has tolerated its position in government, but the prospect of one of its members taking up the highest post in the land is causing it great concern.
The staunchly secular elite of Turkey believes a president whose wife wears an Islamic headscarf would have Ataturk turning in his grave.Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server which houses Celebrity Atheists.
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Very difficult problem there. Secularism good thing Democracy good thing People electing not so secularist politicans not so good
Turkey is very much in transition at the moment with parts of it very western while other parts seem to be back in the dark ages
They talked about this on NPR this morning. They said there have been protests from people, especially women, concerned about losing their freedoms if a right wing Islamist is elected.
Fortunetly, they will be having a run-off election next week and it looks hopeful that they will be able to maintain their secular government.
Stay tuned.
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Turkey is still pretty fucked up - remember there was that study where it was the ONLY country where a smaller percentage of people believed in evolution that the US.
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Interesting. We too have a secular government, but you wouldn't know it by listening to the conservative christians in this country.
I just wish there were as many anti-theocracy demonstrations, just like Turkey, as there are anti-war ones.
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This is exactly what I was thinking! It just seems so odd that one of the principles on which this country was founded has been twisted to mean "Freedom to be christian". And the majority of this country simply does not care! Ok, they want to have their beliefs...when did this translate into they want to have their government too?
Unfortunately, it is probably the Turkish military's heavy handed and quite undemocratic defence of secularism over the years that has led to the strength of the Islamist movement in Turkey. Nothing fires up the fundies like the threat of government oppression, as we have seen all too well in the U.S.
The other problem is the Kurds. Turks hate the Kurds and are afraid that they are going to try to secede and take a big chunk of Turkish territory with them. Now that the US and the Kurds are such close buddies, a lot of Turks feel that the Kurds might get support from the US for such a move. This throws into doubt their whole alligiance to NATO and the West, and tends to drive them into the arms of the biggest anti-US political power in the region: Islamism.
As with most things over there, the lines between religion and politics are so blurry as to be almost nonexistant.
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