"The region’s only real democracy?
It’s a long way from a conservative agenda to state-supported religious coercion.
By Louis Fishman
The Turkish military elite, known for decades as the defender of the secular Turkish republic, found itself checkmated this week by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Long gone are the days when the army dictated politics, carrying out three coups d’etat − in 1960, 1971 and 1980 − and forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan in 1997. In today’s Turkey, few people, whether from the government or the opposition, would support such interference by the military, or the military elite’s radical form of secularism, which actively discriminated against religious women choosing to wear head scarves in educational institutions and government offices. "
More:The region’s only real democracy? - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
