DEMOCRACY WITHIN ISLAM

Hartford Courant,
Aug 30 2007

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Gul’s election as president of Turkey will put to a test the contention
that democracy and human rights are compatible with Islam.

Passing muster will depend on his conservative Justice and Development
Party and the military, which just before Mr. Gul’s election had
warned of "centers of evil" trying "to corrode the secular nature of
the Turkish Republic."

That wasn’t an idle warning. The military has ousted four elected
governments since 1960 and probably won’t hesitate to do the same
if Mr. Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan fail to separate
religion from politics.

The two elected leaders, both religious Muslims, have pledged to
follow a mainstream course. The signs are hopeful. Mr. Erdogan has
been prime minister since 2002 and has respected the secular nature
of public institutions.

Turkey’s attempts to join the European Union would come to naught if
the government limits women’s rights, abuses the rights of ethnic
minorities and refuses to change anti-democratic laws that punish
citizens for "crimes" under the umbrella of "insulting Turkishness."

One longstanding requisite for joining the European Union is
for Turkey’s government to acknowledge that its imperial Ottoman
predecessor waged a genocidal war against Armenians.

Much is at stake for Europe, the United States and the Islamic world.

A successful blend of democracy and Islam would calm the rhetoric
about a looming "clash of civilizations." Mr. Gul and his allies have
an exceptional opportunity to show that it is possible to be both
deeply religious and reform-minded, and that it would be therapeutic
to the nation to face up to the atrocities committed by a government
a century ago.