"Turkish demonstrations are about freedom
Submitted on 18 May, 2007 - 17:51 :: Democracy | Islamism | Secularism | Solidarity 3/112, 18 May 2007 | Turkey
Richard Preece discusses the recent anti-government demonstrations in Turkey
Much mainstream liberal and centre-right reporting on the crisis in Turkey has portrayed the debate as being a kind of “clash of civilisations in one country” between “Islamists” (or even “Muslims” according to others) supporting the ruling Adalet ve Kalk¦nma Partisi and “secularists” supporting the army and the opposition Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi.
On the other hand, sections of the left seem to be tending towards the totally boneheaded view that the hundreds of thousands on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, and the tens of thousands more in smaller cities, were representative of the “middle classes defending their lifestyles” from a government that has done nothing to attack them."
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