This must surely be an April fools joke:
BBC News[/url]]
Turkish leaders face court case
Turkey's constitutional court has decided unanimously that it can hear a case aimed at closing down the country's governing AK Party.
The chief prosecutor earlier filed a petition calling for the party to be banned for "anti-secular activities".
He also wants 71 AKP officials, including the prime minister and president, to be banned from politics.
The case revives a battle between Turkey's secularist establishment and the AK Party of devout Muslims...
Apparently not.
A little bit of recent history... a whole lot of perspective
This is just another move towards madness, ever since the people of turkey [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6966216.stm]voted in[/url] a "religious party" which would go against the secular "establishment" (In most countries, would not the governing party be 2the establishment"?). The military generals even threatened a Coup d'état to protect their secular democracy - they see themselves as the [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6603141.stm]defenders of secularism[/url] and have carried out three coups in the past.
The party has an agenda of reform. One of which was to get rid of a [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7259694.stm]ban on head scarves[/url] for students. There is still a ban on head scarves in positions of public office.
This was followed by the opposition secular party asking the [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7267519.stm]constitutional court to overturn the reforms[/url] allowing head scarves in universities. Eventually the chief prosecutor [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7297390.stm]stepped in and asked the Constitutional Court to ban the governing AK Party[/url], accusing it of "anti-secular activities".
The secular attitude can be traced back to World War 1, where the Ottoman empire was [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Ottoman_Empire]more or less decimated[/url], it's capital occupied, the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partitioning_of_the_Ottoman_Empire]empire partitioned[/url]. Kemal Ataturk was a well respected general who took part and led a nationalist [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_War_of_Independence]war of independence[/url] for Turkey.
Humiliation, it seems, is not easily forgotten.
Comments
This is not a joke but a fact as Turkish secular political forces, establishment and army is behind all this drama. It is always difficult to fight against the dictators in countries like Pakistan, Turkey, Libya and Gulf countries.
Turkey isn't a dictatorship. There were free elections which is why the current, 'un-secular' government is in power.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
So just because my religion supports caring for the poor, I can't be a left-winger?
Just goes to show how the so called secularism can become so undemocratic. This is Hitler politics we're dealing with!
Chin up, mate! Life's too short.