Oktay Eksi: How did we get here?

Looked at from that perspective, it is both true and right to perceive and present the point we have arrived at as being "a victory for our democracy."
 
And for that reason, even if we cannot handle looking with pleasure at those who greet President Abdullah Gul's election with happiness, we must at least know how to look upon them with tolerance.

 
But, looked at from the other direction, everything is very different.
 
In Turkey, it was first Ertugrul Ozkok who said the king was naked, while in the outside world, it was first the New York Times.

Ozkok was the first one to identify Abdullah Gul as the "First President of the Second Republic."

 
And at the New York Times, it was reporters Sabrina Tavernise and Sebnem Arsu who presented the situation thusly: "The election of Abdullah Gul, known for his Islamic political background and for his devout Muslim character, is the breaking of the back of a 84 year old secular system."
 
 
We too have written in the past: Didn't Colin Powell, while he was still US Secretary of State, once identify Turkey as a "moderate Islamic democracy"?

And didn't well known US diplomat Richard Holbrooke use the same expression directly after Turkey's July 22 elections this year?
 
And wasn't Turkey at one time, from the 1940s to when Greece entered the EU in 1981, considered a part of the European family?

 
And didn't both the US and European countries, when looking at our region, put "Turkey and Greece" on the same level?
 
So please tell me, based on what have we now become an extensino of the Middle East or Islamic countries?

 
The truth is, if Turkey's 84 year old "secular system"'s back is broken, it didn't happen in one day.

 
First and foremost, it has happened because for years now-perhaps even as many as 30-the leaders of the CHP have been completely broken off from the people of Turkey.
 
What this has meant is that, since Suleyman Demirel in 1965, religious sects have entered into partnerships with political administrations.

Later passengers down this path were Turgut Ozal, Tansu Ciller, and Necmettin Erbakan.
 
As it is, when religion gets ahold of politics, there is no stopping it. In the end, either the nation or the system breaks down. But by then, it's too late.

They are calling this the second Republic? They are saying that secularity's back is broken?
 
Let's not be angry with anyone.....let's start with where we went wrong.