"In the heartland of Turkey's southeast, plagued by decades of conflict between separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the state, a new threat to secularism is emerging -- Islamist groups.
Local politicians say these organizations are becoming more active in the poor region that borders Iraq and Syria, and some fear this could fan fundamentalism, especially among young people who have grown up with violence.
As in the rest of predominantly Sunni Muslim Turkey, practicing one's religion here long took a backseat to a public espousal of the secularism of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the republic's founder.
However, since the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has roots in political Islam, swept to power in 2002, Muslims are now being more open about their faith."
Islam challenges secularism in Turkey's east - Turkish Daily News Nov 06, 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment