Turkish Press - Day of reckoning
“Erdogan rejects the Islamist label and ran his campaign on a pro-market, pro-Western platform”
Turkey hasn’t changed their stance from being concerned about their own tourism industry to being concerned about the ‘Ummah’.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
"Erdogan rejects the Islamist label and ran his campaign on a pro-market, pro-Western platform"
Turkey hasn't changed their stance from being concerned about their own tourism industry to being concerned about the 'Ummah'.
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And when did "pro-western" mean endorsing American plans to invade Iraq? Pro-western directly means pro-Europe in the case of Turkey, especially regarding the French-German-Russian etc position on opposing a US invasion of Iraq.
As for Turkey being (not) concerned about the Ummah - I am sure the Muslim regions and countries of Abkhazia, Albania, Bosnia, Chechnya, Cyprus and Thrace among others would disagree with you.
Try again. :)
"We do not want war, blood, tears and dead in our region," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the Justice and Development Party, which has Islamic roots.... Erdogan expressed hope that no U.S. strike against Iraq would take place if proof that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction emerged. "Our wish is that it ends with peace," he said.
Thats a very hopeful development for case against war.. yet people in another country have come forward to endorse world opinion that striking Iraq without any solid proof would be termed as aggression..
From the experience I have meeting Turkish friends from the university I attended in USA I felt that turkish people are visibly divided over the interpretatiomn of Islamization in Turkey .. whereas conservative people living in mostly villages want more Islamization but a section of population adhere to more social ideals.. but even the Isalmic minded are wary of what happened in afghanistan.. with limited or none space for woman and minorities.. but want a balanced approach where every one is free to lead their life in peace ... Turkey had been inclined too much on anti-Islamic methods for last decades and slowly populace was becoming visibly wary of that trend..
Economy is a big issue in Turkey with high inflation. Its a chance for Turkey to exploit new horizons like expanding trade with muslim world, Russia nad China than piling up loans and aids from USA!
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*Originally posted by rvikz: *
mallik you are misinterpreting secularism . secularism does not mean
not practising islam.
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Then why in flash seconds, is the response of the western state so negative?
The last time the so-called pro-Islamists were in power was back in 1996. From what I have read they were forced out of power due to pressure from the extremely secular armed forces. Lets see what happens this time around.
As far as war on Iraq & Turkey is concerned, I really do hope that the new administration will be true to it's words. But looking at the track record & the financial situation of turkey, it will be interesting to see how it goes. The basic reason for the Turkish unhappiness on the war with Iraq is not so much the hate of US policies or love for Iraqi people but more so due to the Kurdish situation/complication that might arise as a result of it.
Turk Party Vows Pro-Western Stance
“Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposes a war against Iraq unless it is approved by the United Nations - a similar attitude to that of outgoing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.”
It’s about Turkey’s economy, not love for the “Ummah.”
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*Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
"Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposes a war against Iraq unless it is approved by the United Nations - a similar attitude to that of outgoing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit."
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Yes, and if you cared to read carefully anything you posted even Ecevit opposed a US invasion of Iraq? i.e. exactly the same position as the rest of the world led by France-Germany-China-Russia etc Do you want me to dig some recent WA threads up for you to demonstrate that? :)
If it was not about Islam and about the economy why did the Turkish people not give the opposition (and secular) Republican Party so many votes, instead? Care to explain that? And why are the western media all making such an issue of the Islamist issue? Its got you all excited as well, that you have to search for little crumbs of comfort to deny the obvious.
Try again...:)
http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/nov2002-daily/04-11-2002/main/update.shtml#1
Islamist-based party wins Turkey elections
(Updated at 0945 PST)
ANKARA: The Islamist-based Justice Development Party (AK) won a landslide victory in Turkish elections Monday, a news agency said.
The leader of the Justice and Development Party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that they would build a Turkey where common sense prevails.
Vote tallies from Sunday’s elections showed that with 97 percent of the ballot boxes counted, Erdogan’s party had 34 percent.
The rival Republican People’s Party had 19 percent. Two other smaller parties were hovering just below the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, but with so much of vote already counted, they had almost no chance of gaining any seats.
Even if one of the parties were to cross the threshold, Justice would still be able to form a government in the 550-seat parliament without any coalition partners - a rarity in Turkish politics.
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*Originally posted by Ali_R: *
Then why in flash seconds, is the response of the western state so negative?
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One word - Islam.
But is ths not what democracy has delivered?
I was in Turkey over the summer and I think it was for the best - my personal opinion.
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*Originally posted by mushi: *
I was in Turkey over the summer and I think it was for the best - my personal opinion.
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Yes, I tend to agree. Of the many Turks I have met and know, they are quite evenly split between secular and religious. In fact I would say Turks are much more religious, that we get the impression from observing Turkey, and far more resentful of the secular establishment.