"We are all Kemalists
Turkey's supposedly antagonistic "democratic Islamists" and "authoritarian secularists" are actually cut from the same cloth
Nicholas Birch
Nicholas Birch is a freelance reporter based in Turkey
Battle lines are being drawn in Turkey. Indicted for anti-secular activities by the country's chief prosecutor, the ruling AK party faces closure just eight months after it won a general election with 47 per cent of the vote. At the end of March the country’s constitutional court agreed to hear the prosecutor’s case, and the dispute could now roll on for months. It's the latest and most bitter round of a feud that goes back decades. On one side, pious democrats. On the other, authoritarian secularists."
More:Web exclusive: 'We are all Kemalists' by Nicholas Birch | Prospect Magazine May 2008 issue 146
