SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The fight over secularism is dimming the economic prospects of the republic: Growth has slowed, inflation is up, and the lira is down.
The political drama in Turkey this spring may turn out to be a rite of passage for Turkish democracy. After an intense year of infighting between the country's powerful secular establishment and the popular Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, matters have come to a head with the March 31 decision by the nation's Constitutional Court to hear a lawsuit seeking to abolish Erdogan's party for undermining the secular nature of the republic.
If the court decides against Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the organization could be outlawed and both the Prime Minister and President Abdullah Gül, who also hails from the AKP, could be banned from politics for five years. Although most observers think that outcome unlikely, the mere possibility has thrown Turkey into turmoil and cast a shadow over its economic prospects.
It may be difficult for outsiders to understand the stakes—or even to imagine the scenario. After all, nobody has tried to sue the Republican Party in the US for violating the separation of church and state because President George W. Bush is an avowed Christian. But the entire history of modern Turkey is staked on the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who led the battle for Turkish independence after World War I and founded the Republic in the 1920s on secular principles. Growth Forecasts Lowered >>> By Michael Kuser
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback)
