Ref: Hebat kaum sekularis Turki, berani menyatakan kepatuhan aspirasi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/secularist-march-on-turkeys-birthday-20121030-28hm9.html Secularist march on Turkey's birthday Date October 31, 2012 Tim Arango, Istanbul Founder ... portraits of Kemal Ataturk adorn flags in Ankara Photo: AFP THE wives of Turkey's president and prime minister wore Islamic headscarves as they stood alongside the country's top military commander at a reception to celebrate Turkey's founding 89 years ago, an unprecedented landmark in the struggle over the role of religion in public life. Turkey's secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, zealously banished religion from public life. But the scene from Monday's reception at the president's mansion was broadcast on television, and for many Turks the striking image underscored an emphatic break from a past when civilian leaders were subservient to the military, and Islam was filtered from public life. "The Turkish army is now withdrawing from politics," said Taha Akyol, a columnist for the newspaper Hurriyet. While many praise the diminished power of the military, critics say these struggles have laid bare the deficiencies of Turkey's democracy, pointing to the Islamist-leaning government's crackdown on dissent and the press — there are more journalists in jail here than anywhere in the world. That has given rise to a chorus of frustration displayed in the streets as Turkey celebrated its birthday. Police using tear-gas, smoke bombs and water cannon failed to stop tens of thousands of secularists who marched to Ataturk's mausoleum after clashes outside the parliament building in Ankara where Ataturk declared the republic, CNN-Turk television said. "Some policemen kicked youths who only wanted to unfurl Turkish flags," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). "It is very sad. How can a government that is against the republic call itself the government of the republic?" Marchers accused the Islamist-rooted government of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of raising the profile of Islam. The government has allowed Koran courses in schools while lifting the ban on graduates of imam and preacher schools to become military cadets. "Neither Ataturk nor the republic is anyone's monopoly," said Idris Bal, an MP from Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. "Everyone should refrain from acts that could lead to polarisation" among Turks. NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/secularist-march-on-turkeys-birthday-20121030-28hm9.html#ixzz2AoEjFVy1 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
