IT IS TIME FOR TURKEY TO OPEN ITS SOCIETY TO THE RULE OF LAW AND DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION-BUILDING
By Milan Sturgis,leading American-Serbian scholar and diplomat Published: May 3 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 3 2007 03:00 From Dr Milan Sturgis. Sir, The current constitutional crisis that has gripped Turkey has its roots in the clash between the long-standing secularism of modern Turkey and its desire to become the newest member of the European Union. The 20th century saw Turkey fiercely cling to the secularism that Atatürk laid down for a modern Turkish state and indeed it served it well for more than 80 years. But as Turkey attempts to propel itself on to a larger stage, a stage populated with mature democracies, those very ideals that kept it from falling into the orbit of radical fundamentalism in the past century will indeed prevent it from joining the European community of nations in this century. This article can be found at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/839dbe80-f928-11db-a940-000b5df10621,_i_email=y.html "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of The Financial Times. Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2007
