"A BYZANTINE PLOT IN TURKEY
Nicolas Birch 5/24/06
When a gunman killed a judge in Turkey’s highest administrative court in mid May, it looked like a cut-and-dried case of religious terrorism. Now, the certainty that propelled tens of thousands of Turks to protest what they saw as an Islamist assault on the country’s secularist system has evaporated.
Initially after the May 17 incident -- in which Council of State judge Mustafa Ozbilgin died, and four other judges were wounded -- the accused gunman, Alparslan Arslan, was depicted as a religious radical. After being taken into custody, Arslan reportedly said his actions were motivated by a desire to 'punish' the judges for a February ruling upholding a ban on women wearing the Islamic headscarfs in public institutions.
In recent days, however, investigations have been unable to provide convincing evidence in support of the contention that Arslan is an Islamist. Even the widely-reported claim that he shouted 'Allah is great' before opening fire has been refuted by one of the four judges wounded in the attack."
More:EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - A Byzantine Plot in Turkey
