Mahmut Övür, Sabah
Turkey is currently witnessing a fierce struggle for democratization, and Turkey’s important dynamic powers such as the
Gülen movement -- followers of Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar -- left-wing groups and liberal democrats strongly support this.
The referendum on Sept. 12, 2010 is proof of this support. These dynamic powers have joined forces for the same goal: to have a more democratic Turkey. But it is inevitable that one will observe hidden conflicts within these powers; we have seen fights recently between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and
Gülen followers, and between the AK Party and left-wing and liberal democrats. In fact these conflicts are indicators of a healthy democracy, but those who planned coups to overthrow the government are impatiently waiting for a much more serious conflict to develop within these groups. Aware of all this anticipation, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Zaman daily’s 25th anniversary for this reason only: to disappoint those wanting to see tension between the government and
Gülen followers. And Erdoğan is expected to make a similar move with regards to the Kurdish issue as well.
Published on
Today's Zaman, 31 January 2012, Tuesday
