TURKEY’S TRANSFORMATION INEVITABLE
PanARMENIAN.Net
29.11.2007 18:05 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Since 1999, Turkey has been experiencing
transformation of public, political and social life of the population,
Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the RA Academy
of Sciences, Professor Ruben Safrastyan said during round-table
discussions titled "Turkey after presidential elections: constitutional
changes and internal transformations."
These changes are inevitable, according to him. "Civil society is
being formed in Turkey. Independent NGOs are established as result
of close cooperation with European organizations. A non-governmental
organization is an absolutely new phenomenon for Turkey. Private
capital finds place in science and education. Women’s movement,
which unites dozens of thousand of women who suffered from Islamic
family laws, is gaining force. And the most important factor is the
restriction of the military power. The national security council had to
restrain activities and this is an advance for Turkey. Ranking the 17th
with the GDP index, the state becomes more economically open," he said.
Prof. Safrastyan noted that all this became possible due to activities
of the middle class, which formed the Justice and Development Party
(AKP). "Appearance of AKP is a natural phenomenon of political
history of Turkey, which combines the concept of ‘mild’ Islam and
market economy. Certainly, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
the symbol of this transformation," he stressed.