"A Timely Victory in Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows that democracy and moderate Islam can be a good mix.
Friday, July 27, 2007; Page A20
THE CAUSES of Middle East democracy and moderate Islam should get a badly needed boost from last weekend's parliamentary elections in Turkey. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, which is led by the religious, liberal and pro-Western Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won a convincing victory, dealing a rebuff not only to leftist and nationalist opponents but also to the Turkish military. The militantly secular army effectively forced the election by threatening to intervene in the political system in April; the election results showed that Turks do not share the army's fear of the AK Party and that they rejected its meddling."
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