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Secular Turkey Is Becoming a Thing of the Past

Ron Coody - 8/1/2007

For those who follow Middle Eastern affairs, the recent election in Turkey probably got their attention. It certainly got the attention of lots of Turks, with nearly 80% of the electorate turning out for the specially called vote. The election saga started in the spring when the ruling secular elite threw out the AK party’s candidate for president on the grounds that the parliament lacked a quorum. A new election was called to reelect the parliament, with the secularists hoping to gain some seats and weaken the pro-Islamic AK party. The secularists failed…miserably.

The AK party won 46% of the vote, the largest majority any party has one since the late ‘60’s. Because of the way Turkey ’s democracy is set up, the AK party though winning a larger share of the popular vote did however lose a few seats in parliament. It matters little. With such a huge show of popular support for them and a shrinking show of support for the secular party of Turkey ’s founder Ataturk, the AK party has a green light to proceed basically in any direction it likes.

As a resident of Istanbul for five years, I read with interest many news reports about the election, many of them saying that the AK party’s big win was a surprise. I wasn’t surprised. I’ve gotten to know Turks pretty well. Personally I was surprised they didn’t get over 50%. In spite of seventy years of secular indoctrination and the creation of a personality cult of the nation’s founder who died before WW2, the bulk of the Turks have steadfastly held their loyalty to Islam. To be sure, it’s a unique brand of Turkish Islam, with a heavy dose of Central Asian “folk” practices that predate Islam, but it’s deeply engrained.

One of the silliest tactics of the secularist protesters, mostly women in the recent marches, was fear-mongering that the AK party would eventually force all Turkish women to wear head coverings. Where do those people live? Already a full 60% plus of Turkish women cover their heads! They probably would feel more comfortable if their urbanized countrywomen were a little more modest. The secularists also predict that the AK party will ban alcohol. But what does that matter when the majority of people don’t drink.

The point is that Islam is alive and well in Turkey and what the secularists portray as a gloomy future might look gloomy in their circles, but to the average Turk, it looks rather bright, like the big yellow light bulb the AK party has chosen as its symbol.