Countries sometimes outgrow their founders. In my native country of India, for example, the "father of the country," Mahatma Gandhi, believed that each village should be economically self-sufficient, spinning its own cloth by hand and growing its own food. The other leading figure, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was a socialist who admired the Soviet Union's five-year plans. These two men defined the main choices facing India for a generation.
But eventually the Indians figured out that neither rural self-sufficiency nor Soviet-style state planning was the way to go. Watching the success of China, Indians opted for something else, in this case free market capitalism. Today free market capitalism offers the best hope for India to realize Gandhi's dream of wiping a tear off every Indian face.
Turkey has been in the clutches of Kemal Ataturk's militant secularism for two generations now. Ataturk abolished the Muslim religious courts in favor of the Swiss legal code, ended religious education in schools, legalized gambling and alcohol, replaced existing commercial laws with the German commercial law, outlawed Islamic dress in public buildings, abolished the Islamic calendar, changed the alphabet, and converted the great mosque of the Hagia Sophia into museum. Basically Ataturk tried to convert his country virtually overnight from a Muslim country into a secular European country.
Many in the West have long held Ataturk's Turkey to be a model for the Muslim world. But today no Muslim country is going the way of Turkey, and even Turkey has stopped going the way of Turkey.
Turks today are finding militant secularism to be a problem. Volkan Aytar of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation tells the New York Times, "This narrow shirt of secularism has become a little too tight and choking for Turkish society." Why should women be barred from wearing veils in government buildings? Why should only secular values be permitted in the public square? Why can't Turkey be modern and Muslim at the same time? Not only is Turkish secularism inconsistent with the religious values held by most people--Muslim as well as Christian--but secularism is also a threat to democracy. Every time religious parties stand to gain politically, the Turkish army warns that it is ready to subvert the democratic process through a military takeover.
On Sunday, Turks will have an opportunity to say farewell to Ataturk, to rebuke the generals, and to give extreme secularism a swift kick in the rear end. I predict it will happen, and that the traditional Muslim AK party headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan will win a big victory. Shouldn't Muslim countries be able to live according to Muslim values? Isn't democracy preferable to rule by the generals? In finally laying Ataturk to rest, Turkey could yet provide a model for the rest of the Muslim world.
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 5)
61. Why can't Turkey be like the UAE??? It respects religion and at the same time it is very modern. As a matter of fact in a poll 90% of Iraqis want their country to be like the UAE. UAE is so far the model to the Muslim world and if the AK party wins then Turkey would have the chance to take that position
Mike at 1:09PM on Jul 22nd 2007
62. Peter I have to say that wearing a veil is not really a choice for most women. It is the men who demand it as fathers, brothers and husbands who want to control women and keep them inferior (oh excuse me, in an ivory tower.) If it was truly a choice I would say wear what you want. But they only do it to conform and keep from being honorable killed. Turkey will never become part of the EU if they go back to the 1400's.
Gail Duituturaga at 2:51PM on Jul 22nd 2007
63. D'Souza you dont know anyshit about Turkey. Who the hell do you think that you can make out that meaning, and depending on what fact? Turkey is still secular, there are MANY secular people in Turkey but the uneducated ones (extremists) seem to mess up everything. Because of them Tayyip is still the prime minister of Turkey. Because of them, they provoke people like you to talk their butt off with or without ny knowledge. You're just speaking out of your butt. I hope you get the idea. People who aren't pro turkey or whatever, if you dont like what im writing you know what? deal with it and don't try to start a peeing contest with me because it'll look really retarded on your part.
enemyofsocialdistortion at 3:45PM on Jul 22nd 2007
64. Mike whoever the hell you are, shut the hell up, Turkey isn't the same as stupidass Arabs. Don't be a god damn typical "american" pinhead.
enemyofsocialdistortion at 3:48PM on Jul 22nd 2007
65. Ok the armenians who are talking non sense in their comments should once again read this article, its not about the massacre so butt out of the convo! be relevant.
enemyofsocialdistortion at 3:55PM on Jul 22nd 2007
66.
what is democracy!!!?
answer for you dummies:
anything that the superpowers use is democracy and it is the best by definition...
how you become a democracy?
answer for you dummies:
you can't become democracy without being labeled as one by the superpowers.
finaly, democracy is the way to rule the idiots untill they wake up. later create for them new stupid term like "liberalism" to restart the same game again.
when the people gonna realize that they want live following the right way they agree on, instead of living following names that has no real meaning in the real life...
Dr David Cohen at 6:39PM on Jul 22nd 2007
67. There is noone preventing muslims from practicing their religion in Turkey. Ataturk brought the secular democracy so that everyone can practice their religion as they want, and keep it between god and themselves. He set it up so that people of all sorts of belief are equal, and nobody is forced to act a different way than they feel. If you want to take up the veil issue, look at the people walking on a street in Turkey. You will see some people with veils, and some with miniskirts. I never heard of anyone attacking a person wearing a veil, but in an islamist protest, shoes were thrown at a female reporter with no veil. Here is a sign of which direction things will go. A secular republic, which Mr. D'Souza seems to take so lightly, is the only guarantee of the freedom of thought and religion.
Ayse at 8:55PM on Jul 22nd 2007
68. Sorta like Iran ready to bury Pahlevi in 1979? That sure turned out well for everybody, didn't it?
Infidel Pride at 4:31AM on Jul 23rd 2007
69. Turkey is an advanced country,sixth biggest economy in europe,you can not compare Turkey with other muslim countries, Ataturk idea of keeping islam in hearths of Turkish people was fantastic, he excluded islam from politics, because islam is not a political system , it is only a religion, belief, that's all.
rauf at 8:37AM on Jul 27th 2007
70. Dinesh, you know very little about Turkey and its history. I suggest you to make more research, especially about Ottoman Empire, its collapse and Ataturk. Also keep in mind that Turkey is in a transition now which never happens easy with a lot of mistakes.
Enisus at 4:14PM on Sep 6th 2007