Exchange of blows in Turkey

The closure trial aimed at banning Turkey's ruling AKP began yesterday. On the same day 24 opponents of the AKP were arrested and charged with planning a putsch against the government. For left-wing daily die tageszeitung this is the beginning of an important process: "In essence the trial and the related conflicts are part of a major experiment such as the world has never seen before: namely reconciling a society of predominantly devout followers of Islam with the separation of church and state, the division of power and individual freedoms, without one part of that society forcing its beliefs on the other. ... The danger that this conflict degenerates into violence is constantly present. But as long as the dispute is carried on without the use of weapons, as long as the army stays out of it and the other side respects the existing state institutions, a new balance of power can develop step by step. This process will no doubt take several years, but in the end it could become an important model for both the Middle East and for Europe."

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