'Protestant work ethic' in Muslim Turkey - Business - International Herald Tribune

We don't see this much in Istanbul, somebody stopping work to pray. Usually it is just to drink tea:

"In European countries, workers take a 15-minute smoking break; here we take a 15-minute prayer break," said Ahmet Herdem, the mayor of Hacilar, a town of 20,000 people in this deeply religious and socially conservative region of Central Anatolia, which has produced some of Turkey's best-known companies. "During this time, you are in front of God and you can ask him to help improve business and this is good for morale."

"If you're not a good Muslim, don't pray five times a day and don't have a wife who wears a head scarf, it can be difficult to do business here," said Halil Karacavus, managing director of the Kayseri sugar factory, one of the biggest Turkish businesses, which expects €500 million, or $642 million, in revenue this year."

"Not everyone at the factory, however, views Islam as a benevolent influence. Halil Karacavus, managing director of the company, complains that the region is too much under the influence of the governing AK Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is a traditionalist party with Muslim roots and won 70 percent of seats here in 2004 municipal elections.

Karacavus said that the AK Party too often had tried to mix religion with business. He said that because he was known as a secularist in a region dominated by Islam, government auditors have audited the sugar factory at least five times this year, and the government had tried to install religious- minded people on its management board. The effort did not succeed, Karacavus said, because the company was successful and that insulated it from interference.

"For me, Islam doesn't come first, which can bring problems because the best contracts, land and tax breaks are given to people who share the AK Party's religious beliefs," Karacavus said."
'Protestant work ethic' in Muslim Turkey - Business - International Herald Tribune