"Turkey's Changing Landscape
By Soner Cagaptay
Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst, June 2008
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi: AKP), which came to power in November 2002, is often credited as a liberal party. The AKP can be seen as a liberal movement when judged, for instance, by its pro-market policies which, between 2003 and 2007, enabled the Turkish GDP to grow at an average annual rate of 5.5 per cent. The AKP also emphasises certain religious freedoms, such as the constitutional amendments it passed in February 2008 to legalise the wearing of the Islamic-style headscarf for women (turban) on college campuses."
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