The decisive victory of Turkey’s ruling government party in elections Sunday is not only a defining move for a country trying to forge its identity, but key to the balance of power in the Middle East.
The democratic republic, which is 99 percent Muslim, has been enveloped in a battle to define its style of secular government and the role of Islam in its society.
For the United States and its allies, Turkey is an critical link to a Muslim world that is becoming increasingly hostile to the West.
The victory of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his moderate Justice and Development Party (AKP) will be an important experiment in determining whether a party with strong Islamic roots can maintain a secular system in a region becoming more radical with each passing day.
To Western sensibilities, the evolution of Turkey, formed 84 years ago, is a mosaic of contradictions. Government has excluded religion from public life and those who were overtly religious were seen as backward. As religious Turks gained a foothold in society, prohibitions against religious expression seemed increasingly old-fashioned and restrictive. Erdogan’s party has defined secularism as maintaining a separation between mosque and state so neither interferes with each other.
These changing values have run headlong into an established secular elite, which, backed by the military, has sounded alarms about the creeping influence of Islam in Turkey.
The concerns were not without reason. In the mid-1990s, when Erdogan was mayor of Istanbul, the devout Muslim tried to ban the sale of alcohol in the city. Under his leadership, some public institutions, such as public schools, saw an increase in Islamic influence.
The election Sunday came about after secular opposition blocked the AKP’s nominee for president, who was seen as being too religious. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was forced to give up his bid for the presidency when opponents said his election would remove an important safeguard against the incursion of religion into government. The move backfired, as some worried that the military was becoming too political.
Soon after the election Sunday, Erdogan pledged that he would safeguard Turkey’s secular traditions and continue pushing for the country’s acceptance into the European Union. That move has been blocked by EU countries concerned about human rights issues and the rule of law.
However, financial markets responded favorably to the elections, indicating its support of a government that has welcomed foreign investment. Inflation has dropped under Erdogan and the economy has grown at a strong annual average of 7 percent.
The Bush administration called the election free and fair and said that Turkey remains a valued ally. David Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary, said the result was critical to European interests. “It’s very important that across Europe we reach out to the new government in Turkey when it is formed. A stable and secure Turkey is massively in our interests.”
The Erdogan government will have its challenges in finding quelling separatist violence by Kurds and choosing a compromise candidate for president.
And it will be judged, both inside the country of 73 million and by observers around the world, by how it is able to navigate between religious and secular interests.
