Military sharpens debate in Turkey

04/29/2007

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor


ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turning part of Istanbul into a sea of red with Turkish flags yesterday, hundreds of thousands of secular Turks protested the possible election of a pro-Islamic president.

The massive turnout came after vocal warnings from Turkey's most secular institutions – the Army and presidency – that parliamentary approval of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as head of state would undermine the staunchly secular nation forged by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

The political clash between secularists and Islamists has become critical, analysts say, and taps into one of the deepest faultlines of modern Turkish society. The entrance of the military, which ousted an elected Islamic government a decade ago and mounted three coups in decades before that, brought condemnation from the European Union and has intensified debate about having all strategic civilian arms of government under a pro-Islamic party.

"Today is really a defining moment in Turkey," says Nilufer Narli, an expert on political Islam at Bahcehir University. "There is a polarization, a secular-Islamist conflict, but today it is sharper."

Protesters Sunday, shouting that the presidential palace was "closed to imams," echoed a rally in Ankara two weeks ago.

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