http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/06/10/Turkey-Could-Be-the-Middle-Easts-Powder-Keg.aspx
SECULARISM OR FUNDAMENTALISM?
But Turkey today faces questions that everyone in the
Middle East will eventually face. How does Islam co-exist with
democracy? How do you modernize without westernizing? The two are
different, as every non-westerner knows. Turkey is unlikely to explode,
but these same questions could light dangerous fires elsewhere.
The crisis in Turkey is especially unfortunate when you look at Erdoğan’s record. He brought the Islamist Justice and Development Party to power in 2002 promising to make Turkey a model for other Middle Eastern nations struggling to reconcile representative government with the
dominant religion. He imposed civilian control over the military, more
than doubled per capita incomes, spread social services, began peace
talks with the Kurdish minority, and won three consecutive elections. Forecasts for the “Anatolian Tiger” have put growth this year at above 4 percent.
But Erdoğan radically overshot his mark. Turks have complained for years of creeping authoritarianism, and Erdoğan’s grandiloquent
mega-projects, all launched without public consultation, came to
symbolize it. Shopping malls and gated communities are changing the face of Istanbul. There is a new bridge planned to span the Bosporus (the
third), the world’s largest airport, and Turkey’s largest mosque.
SECULARISM OR FUNDAMENTALISM?
But Turkey today faces questions that everyone in the
Middle East will eventually face. How does Islam co-exist with
democracy? How do you modernize without westernizing? The two are
different, as every non-westerner knows. Turkey is unlikely to explode,
but these same questions could light dangerous fires elsewhere.
The crisis in Turkey is especially unfortunate when you look at Erdoğan’s record. He brought the Islamist Justice and Development Party to power in 2002 promising to make Turkey a model for other Middle Eastern nations struggling to reconcile representative government with the
dominant religion. He imposed civilian control over the military, more
than doubled per capita incomes, spread social services, began peace
talks with the Kurdish minority, and won three consecutive elections. Forecasts for the “Anatolian Tiger” have put growth this year at above 4 percent.
But Erdoğan radically overshot his mark. Turks have complained for years of creeping authoritarianism, and Erdoğan’s grandiloquent
mega-projects, all launched without public consultation, came to
symbolize it. Shopping malls and gated communities are changing the face of Istanbul. There is a new bridge planned to span the Bosporus (the
third), the world’s largest airport, and Turkey’s largest mosque.
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