Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the rise of islamism in Turkey

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, feminist and political thinker, analyses the growing Islamist stronghold on Turkey and suggests how the EU can stymie it. "The proponents of Islam in government such as Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Abdullah Gul and their Justice and Development Party have been remarkably successful. They have understood and exploited the fact that you can use democratic means to erode democracy. With this insight, they have employed a powerful strategy. ... After an initial attempt at Islamic revolution failed in 1997 when the military engineered a 'soft coup' against elected Islamists, Erdogan and his party understood that gradualism would yield more lasting power. ... If they show the same restraint and patience that has brought them this far, they may achieve their aim by continuing to court EU membership. Naive but well-meaning European leaders were manipulated by the ruling Islamists from the onset into saying that Turkey's army should be placed under civil control like all armies in the EU member states."

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