Word: secularistic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...dueling court cases underscore a quickening ideological clash over Turkey's future. The country's secularist establishment - the army, judiciary and urban élite - wants to preserve its vision of Turkey's modern destiny by keeping religion separate from government. But the AKP, the most successful party in recent Turkish history, is rooted in faith and has risen to power as more conservative and religious Turks find a political voice. On the question of how democracy, Islam and modernity can coexist under the rule of law, the two sides have radically - perhaps irreconcilably - different views...
Relations between the secularist forces and the AKP, which was first elected to govern in 2002, have always been uneasy. But an extra measure of animosity has existed since April of last year, when the party sought to install one of its members, Abdullah Gul, as Turkey's President. The military objected, but Erdogan called early elections and appointed him anyway. The AKP then passed a constitutional amendment to lift a ban on head scarves in universities. Since many secularists view head scarves as a political symbol of an Islamic lifestyle, that amendment - struck down by the high court last...
...Turks like Tuncay Ozkan, a 42-year-old TV executive prominent among the new generation of ardent secularist activists, Erdogan is a "fear king," whose party is "using God when it suits them" to amass power and wealth. "The AKP is like the Pied Piper," says Ozkan, who is in the process of launching a pro-secularist political party and TV station. "Everyone knows what they are really about...
...here with us," Chancellor Merkel, an avid soccer fan, said after the game. She added: "The Turks played a good game and one has to compliment them for that. But I am especially glad that we won!" Turkey, which is facing a political crisis over the attempt by the secularist courts to ban the ruling party allegedly for flirting with political Islam, put aside controversies to pull together to cheer the home team...
...mainly Shi'a units demonstrated a loyalty to secularist ideals during the Sadr Uprising instigated by the Mahdi Army that engulfed several cities in late March. While many Iraqi soldiers in Basra and Baghdad either refused to take up arms against other Shi'as or even handed over their weapons to them, General Ali's soldiers in Mahmudiya, the largest city in the area, stuck through five days of heavy fighting that killed five Iraqi soldiers and 25 insurgents. Ali threw approximately 1,000 Iraqi soldiers into the battle, devised and directed their missions to clear the city, and visited...