Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
May 4 2008

Turkish premier rejects claims ruling party rooted in religion

ANKARA (A.A) -04.05.2008 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said Justice and Development (AK) Party was not a party just for
religiously observant people, it was the party of the average Turk.

Erdogan spoke to Newsweek’s Owen Matthews in Ankara on Sunday.

The Newsweek said, "despite a landslide election win last summer,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is fighting for his
political life. Turkey’s Constitutional Court is considering an
indictment accusing Erdogan and 70 other figures from his party, the
AK Party, of "seeking to undermine the secular state." Prosecutors
demand that the accused be banned from politics for five years and the
AK Party closed down."

Asked whether Islam and modernity could coexist, Erdogan said, "Turkey
has achieved what people said could never be achieved – a balance
between Islam, democracy, secularism and modernity. (Our government)
demonstrates that a religious person can protect the idea of
secularism. In the West the AK Party is always portrayed as being
"rooted in religion." This is not true. The AKP is not a party just
for religiously observant people – we are the party of the average
Turk. We are absolutely against ethnic nationalism, regional
nationalism and religious chauvinism. Turkey, with its democracy, is a
source of inspiration to the rest of the Islamic world."

Replying to another question, Erdogan said, "we as politicians cannot
enter into debates about modernizing Islam. As politicians we do not
have the right. Nor do Islamic scholars. But we can speak about the
place of Muslims in modern society and their contribution to a modern
way of life. We can speak about the place of women. For example, in
Turkey today the AK Party is the best way for women to take an active
part in political life. We have the largest number of female M.P.s."

Asked how religious attitudes have changed in Turkey during his
lifetime, he said, "the rules of religion stay the same, but people’s
attitudes towards religion have changed. The urbanization of the
country has brought increased wealth and a different understanding of
life. In the past, people had no alternatives. Now we have given
people freedom of choice. We have also enhanced the rights and
freedoms of non-Muslims. For instance we have made changes to the
building codes so that they do not refer to "mosque" but to "place of
religious worship." We put government money into restoring the
Armenian church on Lake Van. And we have changed the law to help
religious foundations."

The reporter said, "but you haven’t reopened the Orthodox seminary on
Halki island (near Istanbul), Erdogan said, "that is an educational
problem, not a religious problem. We have to overcome some mutual
problems with Greece, such as questions about the education of ethnic
Turks in western Thrace. We hope to overcome these issues soon."

Asked what was Turkey’s role in facilitating recent negotiations
between Israel and Syria, the premier said, "for 40 years Turkey had
no diplomatic relations with Syria. When the AK Party came to power we
decided to normalize these relations. Our policy is to win friends,
and not to make enemies. Because of our good relations with both Syria
and Israel we were asked by both of them to effect better
communications. We’ve been speaking to the leaders of both
countries. It’s important for us to try to gain some ground – if we
can help achieve peace in the Middle East, that will have a major
positive impact on the region."

Asked whether he had a belief that Israel wishes to attack Iran,
Erdogan said, "for a politician to speak about other countries’
intentions is a big mistake. But I don’t want to see anything like
that happen. If it did, I cannot comprehend what will happen in the
Middle East. We shouldn’t even think about this. My biggest hope (for
peace) is that Israel stops its excessive use of force in the West
Bank. Civilians are being killed in Gaza; children and old people. We
have to be just – we cannot say that it’s right if one side (uses
force) but condemn the other side for doing the same."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress