8 ms·

The people have always been supporters of this path. That is why the reset button had to keep on being pushed by the military.

by cdash 10y ago

pluma 10y ago
This isn't entirely wrong. Turkey started out as the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic caliphate. Atatürk created a secular republic inspired by modern Western nations and culture. He even went so far as to change the writing system. It's fairly safe to say that Atatürk's ideals have always been in strong conflict with the will of a certain part of the demographic (e.g. fundamentalists) as well as people from many of the neighboring countries. Consider the controversies in France and other European countries surrounding (proposed) bans on headscarfs and burkas -- then consider that headscarfs have been banned in Turkish universities for decades (though this ban was not always extended to students). It's entirely possible to democratically elect a government that reaches majority support while harming the entire nation and the well-being of future generations. This is why certain laws are treated as immutable in most republics -- no matter how much the people want to change it.
- manish_karan 10y ago
  Amazing how you give exmple of ban of "scarf" to compare the "democratic-ness"
- pluma 10y ago
  In reply to the dead comment: I'm not saying banning scarfs is an example of democracy. I'm saying it's an example of the will of the people being overruled by the founding principle of Laicism. Even though the people want to have it, the constitution prohibits it.
ajmurmann 10y ago
I would be interested to hear from people who are down voting this why they are doing that? On the surface this seems like a reasonable assumption given the role of the Turkish military.
- toyg 10y ago
  Maybe because "the people" is a dangerous generalisation. I'm pretty sure huge swaths of Turkish citizenry don't really want to live in some Iran-style "democratic theocracy".

The people have always been supporters of this path. That is why the reset button had to keep on being pushed by the military.

by cdash 10y ago

The people have always been supporters of this path. That is why the reset button had to keep on being pushed by the military.

pluma 10y ago

This isn't entirely wrong. Turkey started out as the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic caliphate. Atatürk created a secular republic inspired by modern Western nations and culture. He even went so far as to change the writing system. It's fairly safe to say that Atatürk's ideals have always been in strong conflict with the will of a certain part of the demographic (e.g. fundamentalists) as well as people from many of the neighboring countries. Consider the controversies in France and other European countries surrounding (proposed) bans on headscarfs and burkas -- then consider that headscarfs have been banned in Turkish universities for decades (though this ban was not always extended to students). It's entirely possible to democratically elect a government that reaches majority support while harming the entire nation and the well-being of future generations. This is why certain laws are treated as immutable in most republics -- no matter how much the people want to change it.

manish_karan 10y ago
Amazing how you give exmple of ban of "scarf" to compare the "democratic-ness"
pluma 10y ago
In reply to the dead comment: I'm not saying banning scarfs is an example of democracy. I'm saying it's an example of the will of the people being overruled by the founding principle of Laicism. Even though the people want to have it, the constitution prohibits it.

ajmurmann 10y ago

I would be interested to hear from people who are down voting this why they are doing that? On the surface this seems like a reasonable assumption given the role of the Turkish military.

toyg 10y ago
Maybe because "the people" is a dangerous generalisation. I'm pretty sure huge swaths of Turkish citizenry don't really want to live in some Iran-style "democratic theocracy".