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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (439)	12/8/2002 12:10:08 PM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

primarily due to the Turkish military Primarily due to the fact that there is several generations of secular tradition in Turkey, I would say. I don't know if you have ever been there, but Turks are not very docile, and they would not appreciate if the Islamists decided one day that women need to wear chadors and men would not be able to be friends with women <g> or something... Turkish military was of course very influential as well. Finally they let the Islamists know that they outstayed their welcome. I don't remember what the final straw was, though. the Turkish military as the self-appointed guarantor of democracy in the nation Turkey's military has the constitutional right to step in and seize power when they believe the country's democracy is in danger. In other words, the army in Turkey is not self-appointed to the task of protecting its secular democracy, but is given the duty. The manner in which the Turkish military, a authoritarian organization, acts in order to prevent any other radical or militant faction from turning the nation into a dictactorship/theocracy, is rather fascinating... I agree completely. It is very curious. I read a bit into the last time Turkish military stepped in (can't call it a coup because they are excercising a constitutional right and duty) in 1980 - The country was on the brink of civil war, with far-right fascist/nationalists and far-left communists were literally shooting eachother on the streets. The army stepped in, imposed strict curfew, jailed numerous militants (and countless innocents) on both sides, and then stepped aside for democratic elections. The army is extremely popular in Turkey, where the man on the street does not trust the police much (stories of torture galore) but loves the soldier. It will be when Islamic militants infiltrate the ranks of this military, as occurred in Egypt, that we'll see troubles. Very true. This is why the Turkish army has been trying very hard to keep Islamists out. Not only do they try not to let them in, but they weed them out systematically. I read of incidents where an army official was terminated when they realized his wife wore a head scarf and would not shake men's hands. They really are very strict about this.