No Middle Ground
For the radically secular nationalist forces trying to close down the popularly elected AKP, there is no middle ground. AKP has used its liberal orientation to push for religious rights, for instance, allowing female students to wear headscarves while attending university. This prompted a case now before the Constitutional Court to close down the AKP and ban 71 of its politicians from politics, effectively bringing down the elected government.
In an interview with McClatchy Newspapers, Onur Oymen of the radically secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP) compared the Muslim head scarf to Nazi brownshirts and Italian fascist Black Shirts, the World War II paramilitary groups that were identified by the color of their uniforms.
From the article:
… What does it mean, ‘moderate Islam’?” Oymen asked. “It’s like Coca-Cola Light or half-pregnancy. Either you observe the rules of the Quran — in your daily life, in the judiciary, in education, in state administration — or you don’t.” …
Looming over the political crisis is Turkey’s military, which has engineered four coups in the last five decades. While most people don’t expect the army to use military force to oust [Prime Minister] Erdogan, the fear is ever present. This time around, critics have dubbed the attempt to oust the AKP a “judicial coup d’etat” and suspect that the military is quietly working to shape events. …
“The more violence there is, the more excuse there is for repression and using security as your excuse for shrinking the political space and violating liberties,” said Istanbul Bilgi University’s Soli Ozel.
UPDATE: Oymen said he was quoted out of context. What he really meant: “We are against using the headscarf as a political symbol. In democratic countries, you can’t use it like a political symbol, like a uniform. One finds such things in authoritarian countries. For example, in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany, the youth wore shirts of a certain color.” (click for article)
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