I don't much care whether rural Anatolians or Istanbul secularists take power. I'm not close to any of them. What I care about is respect for the individual.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It is beneficial for Turkish democracy that not all religious conservatives are united under one banner.
Turkey is immersed in a profound social and political conflict between secularists, who have been in power since the republic was founded, and an insurgent Islamic-based movement that seeks to increase the role of religion in public life.
The secularists in Turkey haven't underestimated religion, they just made the mistake of believing they could control it with the power of the army alone.
Bear in mind how valuable a secular Turkey is for the world.
Istanbul is a vast place. There are very conservative neighbourhoods, there are places that are upper class, Westernised, consuming Western culture.
The government in Turkey, which represents the powerful, traditionalist mass, is very comfortable creating policies tailored only for their supporters.
No Muslim country has ever done as much as Turkey to make itself over in the image of a European nation-state; the country's westernised elite brutally imposed secularism, among other things, on its devout population of peasants.
Foreign journalists writing about Turkey like to focus on the most fundamental divide in Turkish society: the rift between religious conservatives and secularists.
These political movements flourish on the margins of Turkish society because of poverty and because of the people's feeling that they are not being represented.
That is one of the reasons why we advocate for good relations between the two countries. Turkey understands the needs of the region.
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