In today’s blog we examine the tensions within Turkeys culture; a secular state with an overwhelmingly Muslim population.
 
In Turkey, whether the prime minister’s wife wears a hijab in public or not can cause a huge public outcry and generates hundreds of column inches of comment and debate. More dramatically, the military, who view themselves as the protectors of Turkey’s secular constitution, have issued warnings prior to elections of their determination to prevent the formation of any government they deem to be too Islamic. Yet Turkey is often viewed as the model of a stable modern Islamic country which many western countries wish was more common. How has this tension between the secular and religious played out in Turkey’s political history?
 

• 1928 - 5 years after Kemal Ataturk was declared president, Turkey becomes secular after the clause retaining Islam as state religion removed from constitution.
• 1995 - Ciller coalition collapses. Pro-Islamist Welfare Party wins elections but lacks support to form government - two major centre-right parties form anti-Islamist coalition.
• 1996 - Centre-right coalition falls. Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan heads first pro-Islamic government since 1923.
• 1997 - Coalition resigns after campaign led by the military, replaced by a new coalition led by the centre-right Motherland Party of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.
• 2001 - Constitutional Court bans opposition pro-Islamic Virtue Party, saying it had become focus of anti-secular activities. New pro-Islamist party Saadet is set up by former Virtue Party members in July.
• 2002 November - Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK) wins landslide election victory. Party promises to stick to secular principles of constitution.
• 2005  - Parliament overturns veto by secularist President Sezer on government-backed amendment easing restrictions on teaching of Koran.
• 2007 April - Tens of thousands of supporters of secularism rally in Ankara, aiming to pressure Prime Minister Erdogan not to run in presidential elections because of his Islamist background.
• 2007 May - Parliament brings forward national elections to 22 July to try end the standoff between secularists and Islamists over the choice of the next president.
• 2007 July - AK Party wins parliamentary elections and Abdullah Gul is elected president.
• 2008 February - Parliament approves constitutional amendments which will pave the way for women to be allowed to wear the Islamic headscarf in universities.
• 2008 July - Petition to the constitutional court to have the governing AK Party banned for allegedly undermining the secular constitution fails by a narrow margin.
• 2010 January - Newspaper carries report on alleged 2003 “Sledgehammer” plot to destabilise country and justify military coup. Head of armed forces, Gen Ilker Basbug, insists that coups are a thing of the past.
• 2010 April - Parliament begins debating constitutional changes proposed by the government with the stated aim of making Turkey more democratic. The opposition Republican People’s Party says the Islamist ruling party is seeking more control over the secular judiciary with some of the proposals.
• 2010 September - Referendum on constitutional reform backs amendments to increase parliamentary control over the army and judiciary. Critics see it as attempt by the pro-Islamic government to appoint sympathetic judges.

Turkey-phile Norman Stone shall be joining us on Tuesday October 18th to discuss his favourite city and home for over a decade Istanbul, taking us on a journey through the country’s turbulent history and social tensions.