‘WE ARE NOT ROOTED IN RELIGION’

Newsweek, NY
May 12, 2008
International Edition

Because of our good relations with Syria and Israel, we were asked
by both of them to effect better communication.

By Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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 AKP, of "seeking to undermine
the secular state." Prosecutors demand that the accused be banned
from politics for five years and the AKP closed down. The morning
that the party submitted its defense to the court, Erdogan spoke to
NEWSWEEK’s Owen Matthews in Ankara. Excerpts:

Matthews: Can Islam and modernity coexist?

Erdogan: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 AKP 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.

You have made speeches calling for new thinking in Islam.

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 AKP is the best way for
women to take an active part in political life. We have the largest
number of female M.P.s.

If you have such a liberal vision, why is it that you are being
prosecuted for allegedly being too Islamist?

I cannot comment while the case is still being considered by the court.

How have religious attitudes changed in Turkey during your lifetime?

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
[regain property confiscated by the state].

But you haven’t reopened the Orthodox seminary on Halki island
[near Istanbul].

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.

What is Turkey’s role in facilitating recent negotiations between
Israel and Syria?

For 40 years Turkey had no diplomatic relations with Syria. When
[the AKP] 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.

Is it your belief that Israel wishes to attack Iran?

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.