Significant number of Turks have secularism concerns

"There are those who see the current impasse solely in terms of an entrenched establishment’s resistance to and fight with the forces of democratization. This would be a grave oversimplification of the present situation,"

Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen's Association's (TUSIAD) chairwoman, Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, said last week in a speech delivered at 38th St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland.

 

Turkish public's view on Islamist-rooted AKP is divided as some decisions of the ruling party creates question marks over secularism. However foreign reporters and officials define the conflict in Turkey as a "power struggle between secular establishment, including army and judiciary, and newly emerging conservatives."

 

"Although it is true such a resistance exists, the concerns of a significant segment of our population over the issue of secularism or about an infringement on their lifestyles cannot be dismissed out of hand," Yalcindag added according to her speech text published on TUSIAD's website Monday.

 

"I see this crisis and the worrying polarization in our politics as a reflection of a deeper conflict that inflicts the global community. In other words the dislocations caused by integration with global capitalism, the shift in the relative power of social groups, generate reactions and lead to fierce struggles between winners and losers. In our case the language of that struggle is that of secularism."

 

Turkey's top prosecutor filed an indictment against the ruling AKP claiming the party had become the "focal point of anti-secular activities" in March. The prosecutor also asked for the banning from politics of 71 members of the party including the prime minister and the president. The Constitutional Court is reviewing the case and is expected to rule on the matter within the next few months.  Â