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Prospects of Extremist Secularism in a Democratic World |
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THE TRIUMPH OF MODERATE ISLAMISTS
Sondos Asem - AljazeeraTalk - Cairo
 A de facto phenomenon in world politics since the early twentieth century till our present day has been the constant conflict between an Extremist Secularist political current and a Moderate Islamist one. Turkey and Egypt have simultaneously witnessed the conflict in question, each in his own way. Secularist powers in both countries have led a violent struggle to eradicate an ever-growing Islamist trend, in Turkey to preserve the principles of the so-called laïcité (Atatürk's version of Secularism), and in Egypt to smother the Muslim Brotherhood, thus preventing a moderate Islamist movement from approaching political life. While doing this, Secularists have openly declared their complete disengagement with the mainstay of democracy and human freedoms– the once-avowed tenets of Secularism.
Following Atatürk's swearing-in as the first president of a Turkish republic, he passed a series of laws that were meant to define the new secular era in Turkey, the paramount feature of which was the imposition of non- Ottoman attire in an attempt to signal the Turks' divorce from all Islamic, and hence Ottoman, vestiges. So the Hat Law was passed in 1925 to introduce the use of western style hats instead of the fez, and so was the Law Relating to Prohibited Garments in 1934, which emphasized the need to wear modern suits instead of antiquated religion-based clothing such as the veil and turban. Obviously, Mustafa Kemal went back to square one because in his efforts to distance his republic from religious hegemony he established his own religion with its special restrictions and outfits. The military establishment in Turkey ardently adopted the Kemalist Ideology and fiercely stood against the rise of Islamists through intervening in the political process under the pretext of protecting Atatürk's secular legacy. It even went too far in pressuring Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan of the Welfare Party to resign in 1997, an incident which clearly unfolded the Extremist face of Turkey's Secularism.
 The Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Erdogan, came from the ruins of the Welfare Party, demonstrating a Moderate view of political Islam and focusing on economic reforms, a fact which greatly increased the AKP's popularity and consequently deepened the rift between the latter and the secular armed forces. The last straw, though, came with the overwhelming victory of the AK party in parliamentary elections, the election of Recep Tayyip Erdo ğan as Turkey's Prime Minister, and of Abdullah Gül as the 11th president of the Republic of Turkey. In Gül's inauguration ceremony, unlike past inaugurations, army chiefs, some of the secular establishment and the main opposition Republican People's Party were absent. General Yasar Buyukanit, Turkey's armed forces chief, immediately announced he saw "centers of evil" seeking to undermine the secular republic, a statement suggesting the army would not stand on the sidelines if it saw the separation between mosque and state threatened.
A red line for staunchly secularist Turks was the Islamic-style headscarf of Hayrunnisa Gül. It is downright ridiculous that a peace of cloth on the head of a first lady would be too horrific for some people to tolerate. I once thought that secularists' campaign against veil in Turkey aimed at hiding one's religious affiliation, but later I realized that veil in this country is also identified as a political sign. This means that the proliferation of Islamic female uniform can best mark Islamists' popularity score, a fact hardly welcomed by militant Secularists, who had the upper hand in persuading the Higher Education Council to issue a regulation in 1987 forbidding female university students to cover their heads in class, let alone the first lady. In contrast, a survey published in Milliyet daily newspaper showed that the majority of Turks - 72.6 per cent - have no objections to a first lady with a headscarf, while 19.8 per cent said they would be annoyed if she covers up. Can this appease Secularists? If not, then all their fears are proof that they are no more that political rivals unable to match the AKP's rising popularity.
 It is absolutely narrow-minded to assume Moderate Islamists win at the ballot boxes solely because of their Islamic background. No doubt a government with an Islamic background can offer a realistic alternative to countries with a majority of Muslims like Turkey and Egypt. However, Islamists primarily derive their public support from their outstanding economic achievements, their pragmatism, and their adherence to democratic life. It was Erdogan's good-governance, development strategies, and commitment to fighting corruption which made him win the electorate's confidence. Likewise, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt presented a Moderate example of Islamists involving in politics. It is true that a plethora of voices have constantly ruled out any such comparison between the AKP the Muslim Brotherhood. Nevertheless, the two situations have much in common except for the amount of political freedom enjoyed by Islamists in Turkey. Both abide by the democratic process within their internal structure as well as in national politics; both depend on economic and social activities for their popularity, and therefore such activities are usually a target of Extremist Secularist interference; a characteristic of both is "resilience" and for that reason they are dismissed as Machiavellian plotters in by suspicious Secularists. What happened to Erbakan in 1997 and what is done with Khairat El Shater -the Brotherhood's deputy chairman- in 2007 are two sides of the same coin. El Shater's investment projects were and are still fought by a Secularist regime aghast to see a Moderate Islamist trend on the ascendancy, and finding no other choice than transferring him to a military tribunal on trumped-up charges. This is exactly the kind of democracy expected from Extremist Secularists. Disguising behind democratic rhetoric, Extremist Secularists in Turkey and Egypt alike have used violence and terror to maintain power, thus renouncing the minimum principles pivotal to democracy and Human Rights promotion.
Should democracy prevail, the world will definitely leave no place for Extremists, be they Secular or religious. And if Moderate Islamists are given sufficient opportunity to engage in the political platform of Muslim-majority communities, radicalization will naturally erode and world politics will witness further stability.
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