Fears of an Islamic Agenda in Turkey

Deniz Baykal, leader of the opposition center-left Republican People's Party or CHP, applauds his supporters during an election rally in Istanbul, Turkey, in this Nov. 1, 2002 file photo. The architect of the dramatic reversal of fortune for Turkey's Islamic-rooted prime minister is a longtime opposition figure who has been fighting what he sees as Islam's encroach into Turkish politics for more than a decade. Deniz Baykal, 68, is president of Turkey's oldest political party, the Republican People's Party. Since 2002, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party swept into power with two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, Baykal has been relegated to the mostly powerless role of leader of the opposition. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer/File) (Murad Sezer - AP)

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Turkey's secular circles rocked the government by portraying its leaders as Islamists intent on imposing religion on society. But the ruling party, an advocate of European Union membership, has done more than most of its predecessors to introduce Western reforms to the country.

So is there a secret government agenda to impose Islamic law? Or are the secularists stirring up fears about political Islam to win more power? In a debate fueled by suspicion and acrimony, there are no clear-cut answers.

But this is plain: the dispute has exposed a deepening divide in Turkey, a NATO member and traditional ally of the West.

Parliament on Wednesday approved general elections on July 22 as a way to ease the tension after Turkey's highest court sided with the secularists and annulled a parliamentary vote that looked certain to lead to a president rooted in political Islam.

But the Islam vs. secularism discourse could define voting patterns and exacerbate the rift.

Even so, few expect a scenario in which Turkey turns its back on the West and aligns itself with Islamic governments such as the one in neighboring Iran. Turkey has a strong secular tradition, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government _ for all its Islamic credentials _ has bound its reputation to the bid for entry into the EU.

Besides, the military is the self-declared guardian of secularism and said last week that it would step in if the ideals of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded modern Turkey from the vestiges of the Ottoman Empire, come under threat. The armed forces have ousted four governments since 1960.

Many Turks, shocked by the military's warning, view the current uncertainty as a sharp turn toward the instability of past decades, even if the economy is on a more solid footing this time. The conflict in Turkey, whose 75 million people are mostly Muslims, also feeds into a broader debate about whether Islam and democracy are compatible.

On the face of it, Erdogan has spent much of the past five years in power trying to prove the two can go together. He has repeatedly cast Turkey as a bridge between East and West, a mediator between Islam and Christianity.

For the moment, those visions of Turkey's global role are more rhetorical than real. But the government has been working hard, too. It pursued privatization and other reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund, and scrapped the death penalty and made other changes for entry into Europe's club. Membership is still a long way off, however.

Erdogan and his close ally and presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, wear Western-style business suits and are clean-shaven, in keeping with laws that bar Islamic dress in public offices. During their party's rise to power in 2002, some of its candidates publicly shaved off their Islamic-style beards.

Still, Erdogan built his career in political Islam, whose adherents believe their religious values can shape a nation's political path.