By Andrew L. Jaffee

I had feared that Turkey’s constitutional crisis over electing a new (Islamist) president may have led to military (secular) intervention. It seems my fears have been allayed, short-term:

Turkey’s parliament has failed for a second time to elect the Islamist-rooted governing party’s candidate for president, Abdullah Gul.

Mr Gul, the only nominee, withdrew his candidacy after the vote was rendered invalid by an opposition boycott.

But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP), with his “autocratic tendencies,” has not given up his dream of steadily moving Turkey away from its secular roots, planted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and towards Islamist “ideals:”

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

The question of the day: Will Turkey have an Islamist president? This question is important because of Turkey’s strategic position in the Middle East, its potential accession to the EU, and perhaps most importantly, whether the current conflict between the country’s Islamists and secularists can be settled peacefully and democratically. Yes, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP), with his “autocratic tendencies,” was elected democratically, but he has been steadily moving Turkey away from its secular roots, planted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and towards Islamist “ideals.” To reframe the question: Can there be an Islamic democracy? In Islam’s current state, I doubt it. We may end up seeing Turkey’s secular military intervening rather undemocratically, but necessarily.

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP), has been steadily moving Turkey away from its secular roots, planted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and towards Islamist “ideals.” Thankfully, not all Turks are buying it:

Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism in Turkey, amid a row over a vote for the country’s next president. …

[AFP reports: “More than a million Turks rallied here Sunday in support of secular democracy”]

“Turkey is secular and will remain secular,” shouted demonstrators from all over the country as they waved flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

“We want neither Sharia, nor a coup, but a fully democratic Turkey,” they added.

Many sang nationalist songs and called for the government’s resignation.

Our correspondent describes the rally as an enormous show of force. More than 300,000 people attended a similar event two weeks ago. …

(more…)

by Kamal Said Qadir*

On September 11, 1961, Iraqi Kurds under the leadership of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, founder of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and father of the current Kurdish president Masoud Barzani, rose in rebellion against Iraq’s central government. Kurds often portray the event as spontaneous.[1] It was not.

(more…)

by Fikret Erkut Emcioğlu*

Since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded modern Turkey in 1923, the Turkish Republic has clung to secularism and nationalism as bedrock principles. After the introduction of the multiparty democratic system in 1946, the struggle between hard-line Kemalists and others—liberals, communists, and Islamists—has dominated Turkish political history. The November 2002 victory of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), an Islamist party with anti-Kemalist roots, is just the latest manifestation of this struggle.

(more…)

From the Middle East Quarterly*

On March 14, 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP), became Turkey’s prime minister.[1] While the AKP makes no secret of its Islamic roots, it describes itself as a conservative party that fully accepts Turkey’s secular system of government.[2] “A political party cannot have a religion, only individuals can,” Erdoğan explained.[3]

(more…)

by Michael Rubin*

Speaking before the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 27, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped into a diplomatic minefield when she referred to the Iraqi-Turkish frontier as “the border between Turkey and Kurdistan.” Turkish newspapers and television across the political spectrum condemned her remarks. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan characterized her statement as “wrong” and said that Turkey, at least, remains committed to Iraq’s territorial integrity.

(more…)

by Steven Shamrak

The email exchange shown below reveals the deep-seated hatred of ‘the master’ toward the former slaves. This attitude and twisted mentality towards Israel and Jews can be easily observed in the behavior of the French, Russians, Turks… and even some Americans. These former rulers of the Jewish people appear unable to accept Jews as equals; thus they are incapable of taking an objective view on the Arab-Israel conflict and allowing Israel a free hand in dealing with her enemies. They are not willing to accept Jews, nor are they able to accept Israel as a free and equal nation. They have been doing everything possible to sabotage and minimize our successes both before and since Israel declared her independence.

(more…)

by Bill Narvey

A recent film, Valley of the Wolves produced by Turkish Director, Serdan Akar has drawn periodic comments from a number of pundits who have noted the film is virulently anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western.

An article, “Outcry in Germany as anti-Semitic film sells out,” by Tony Paterson has now appeared on the website, Telegraph.Co.UK regarding the reaction to the film’s debut in Germany.

(more…)

Editor’s note: See latest, “Turkey’s Turning Point: Could there be an Islamic Revolution in Turkey?”

by Michael Rubin*

While the campaigns have not officially begun, election season in Turkey is heating up. This spring, the Turkish parliament will select a president to replace current president Ahmet Necdet Sezer, whose seven-year term ends on May 16, 2007. On or before November 4, 2007, Turks will head to the polls to choose a new parliament. Not only does this year mark the first since 1973–and 1950 before that–in which Turks will inaugurate a new president and parliament in the same year, but this year’s polls will also impact the future of Turkey more than perhaps any election in the past half century. If Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins the presidency and his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, also known as AKP) retains its parliamentary majority, Islamists would control all Turkish offices and be positioned to erode secularism and redefine state and society.

If Erdoğan ascends to Çankaya Palace–the Turkish White House–Turks face the prospect of an Islamist president and a first lady who wears a Saudi-style headscarf. Such a prospect has fueled speculation about intervention by the Turkish military, which traditionally serves as the guardian of secularism and the Turkish constitution. In December 2006, for example, Newsweek published an essay entitled “The Coming Coup d’Etat?” predicting a 50 percent chance of the military seizing control in Turkey this year.[1]

(more…)

by Soner Cagaptay*

In 2002, it seemed as if Turkey’s two-decade long struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK) had ended. It did not. Peace was ephemeral. While the PKK, on October 1, declared yet another cease-fire, it came only after a sustained period of almost daily attacks on Turkish soldiers, civilians, and foreign tourists. On August 27 and 28, for instance, the PKK bombed targets in Istanbul and the resort cities of Antalya and Marmaris, killing three people and wounding more than 100.[1]

(more…)

by Michael Rubin*

Five years into the war on terror, inept U.S. diplomacy risks undercutting a key democracy (and ally) that President Bush once called a model for the Muslim world. The future of Turkey as a secular, Western-oriented state is at risk. Just as in Gaza and Lebanon, the threat comes from parties using the rhetoric of democracy to advance distinctly undemocratic agendas. Turkey has overcome past challenges from terrorism and radical Islam; always its system has persevered. But now, as Turkish politicians and officials work to defend the Turkish constitution, U.S. diplomats interfere to dismiss Turkish concerns and downplay the Islamist threat.

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

At first, reports circulated today that a Turkish airliner was hijacked in protest of the Pope’s recent comments on Islam. Now, it seems that there was only one hijacker, running away FROM Islam. From the BBC:

Hakan Ekinci is a conscientious objector who had run away to Albania during military service in the Turkish army, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports.

He was seeking political asylum there, saying he had converted to Christianity eight years ago and could no longer be forced to serve in a Muslim army. …

There is another letter from the same Hakan Ekinci on the Internet - this one an address to Pope Benedict, our correspondent adds.

In it the soldier pleads with the Pope for help with his asylum claim as a Christian.

(more…)

By Andrew L. Jaffee

Islamo-fascists, upset with the Pope’s statements noting that Muslims have a problem with violence, have hijacked a Turkish airliner en route from Tirana to Istanbul — an inherently violent act. One can only wonder if radical Muslims have even noticed that their own violence has proved the Pope’s point. Let’s see: Muslim “militants” shot a Catholic nun 4 times in the back in Somalia; Islamic “minutemen” attacked/torched 7 churches in the West Bank; “Al-Qaida in Iraq warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that its war against Christianity and the West will go on until Islam takes over the world;” a senior Pakistani politician said, “If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross;” etc., etc. Anyone see a pattern here?

(more…)

by Michael Rubin
Middle East Quarterly*
Summer 2006
http://www.meforum.org/article/1025
* Cross-posted with permission

On October 14, 2005, police in the eastern Turkish city of Van arrested Yücel Aşkın, the rector of Yüzüncü Yıl University, on charges stemming from alleged corruption involving the purchase of medical equipment. In an effort to humiliate the rector, the police allowed local television to film Aşkın’s arrest and denied him bail. Few outside observers accepted the charges, and, within days, university presidents across Turkey were rallying in Van for the freedom of their colleague.[1]

(more…)