Gul is Turkey's new President

Walking through Istanbul with my Turkish friend last year, a secular woman, I watched as she was shunned by women with scarves who turned their backs on her.
The rise of the AK party is giving the more religious Turks the support and impetus to force the country into an Islamist state.
The election of Gul will only split the country further. He may be a moderate but he encourages and emboldens the more fundamental elements.
It could have the effect that the military will feel the need to step in again to change the government. Look at the harsh language in the warning the military issued just yesterday. That would be a disaster to their EU hopes and for the economy.
John G-
Brooklyn, USA

Posted August 28, 2007 3:59 PM

John G: You are right. Turkey changed quite a lot under AKP. Sure the party had to push economic reforms as well as other reforms partly as a cover and partly because they too had something to win. The problem is that moderate and secular Muslims have done too little and now AKP is stronger than ever. Iran's clerics must be happily jumping up and down. With AKP in power Iran's chances of winning Turkey over their side have just increased. True EU will continue to push Turkey, but what if the Turks will get up one morning and say, the hell with the EU! We can do much better on our own and by having allies such as Russia, Iran, Indonesia etc.

Posted August 28, 2007 5:21 PM

I truly feel sorry for Turkey. What are those people thinking? It's 21st century they should forget about that f*** religion once and for all. It is not doing any good to the world why follow?
Turkey shortly will be future Pakistan or Afganistan.

Posted August 28, 2007 9:47 PM

JOHN G --

If you'd like to write up your experiences in Turkey and relate them to current events at more length, we'd be happy to consider publishing them as a post on the blog.

Posted August 29, 2007 1:00 PM

This Claire Berlinski report suggests AK Party is quite far from Iran:
http://instapundit.com/archives2/007426.php

Posted August 29, 2007 1:18 PM

Albanian_Eagle: We like it or not religion is important for many people. The problem is not that some believe in God, Prophet Muhammad, etc but the way they choose to show it. To a certain extent each and every religion is imperialistic. Christianity evolved but it needed centuries and it was influenced by the various philosophical streams that were secular in nature. In many ways Islam remained the same or even regressed. If Islam will evolve and into what is for us to observe, perhaps experience in the next decades.

Adrian: Please follow carefully the economic and political agreements between Iran and Turkey. Also keep an eye on Russia's moves in Europe and Orient. Just to be clear: Turkey is not Syria. But both countries have a Muslim majority and that we should not ignore.

Posted August 29, 2007 4:53 PM