Turkey ahead of the elections

According to Edgar Auth, it was a clever move of Prime Minister Erdogan to make way for his fellow party member Abdullah Gül to run for the highest public office: "It's no coincidence that the proponents of the Islamisation of Turkey are not opposed to the country's coming closer to Europe. This is because the tolerance and openness practised there will make things easier for them. Unlike at European universities, students at Turkish universities are forbidden to wear headscarves... The allegedly so enlightened elites in Istanbul and Ankara see the roots of re-Islamisation in Europe. In their view fundamentalist emigrants are reimporting Islamism to their country. This elite tends to overlook its own social and democratic shortcomings. This situation is creating a somewhat unholy alliance between the military, the nationalists and concerned democrats who see an AKP presidency as the end of modern Turkey... This should give cause for scepticism... Therefore Gül and his party should be given a chance."

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