You are in:
- Contents » European Democracy
Turkish PM Takes On Secular State
It's a pity the media is not paying more attention to recent goings-on in Turkey, where the country's constitutional court struck down a law permitting headscarves in public buildings earlier this month.
The law was proposed in the name of "religious freedom" by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mildly/formerly Islamist (delete as applicable) AK Party.
The court vetoed it, infuriating party activists; all seemed set for yet another clash between the popular AKP and Turkey's post Ataturk secular establishment (some courts, the army, many urban intellectuals). Secular Turks are uneasy that unelected courts, and, as a last resort, the generals, stand in the way of the "creeping Islamification" which has taken place since AKP came to power. Is the undemocratic state preferable to the Islam becoming a powerful force in public life?
Europeans are puzzled too. While some welcome a relaxation of Turkey's strict dress laws in the name of liberalism, only a maniac would be unconcerned about Islam's influence creeping into the nation's public life. After all, this is a nation set to join the EU in a decade. Do we prefer a secular state kept that way by unpopular and unelected generals? Or do we want to see popular and populist Islamic party sweep away decades of secular traditions, replacing them with Islamic values more suited to the Middle East than a nation we are told belongs in the heart of modern Europe?
If Turkey's tensions are in equal parts baffling and troubling, the next constitutional issue is frankly bizarre. In September the court will give its verdict on a 162-page indictment on the crimes of the AKP and government: "It cites the headscarf law, a host of Erdogan's statements and AKP actions at local government level, including bans on alcohol sales", The Guardian adds.
The court will decide if the ruling Islamist party has the right to exist at all. It could close the party, forcing Erdogan out of office. The AKP could chose confrontation with the court, or it could accept the ruling, closing and reforming Vlaams Blok / Vlaams Belang style. The Guardian reports that the AK and the PM are taking a more conciliatory approach... but Europeans will be watching closely.
