TURKEY: Goodbye to Long Friendship with Israel?, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

TURKEY: Goodbye to Long Friendship with Israel?

Analysis by Hilmi Toros

The ties between Turkey and Israel that had been simmering for a few weeks suddenly hit boiling point at the usually sedate World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got into a public showdown over Gaza; Erdogan stormed out of a panel discussion with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

Peres defended Israeli strikes as a response to rocket attacks by Hamas. Erdogan denounced Israeli raids and the death and destruction among civilians, many women and children among them, and on UN compounds.

The fine print of the confrontation was that Erdogan, despite the reports in most media, did not storm out of the meeting because of Peres. He had said his bit to Peres in no uncertain terms ("Israel knows how to kill well") and was elaborating when moderator David Ignatius of The Washington Post said the panel discussion was running over the allocated time, and persistently attempted to cut off Erdogan.

http://newageislam.com/turkey--goodbye-to-long-friendship-with-israel?---/islam-and-the-west/d/1176

Turkey's ruling party narrowly escapes ban, Muslims and Islamophobia, NewAgeIslam.com

Muslims and Islamophobia

Turkey's ruling party narrowly escapes ban

AFP, Ankara

The judges who supported the financial sanctions agreed that the AKP had become a "focal point" of anti-secular activities as the chief prosecutor argued "but not that serious" to deserve a ban, he said.

A solemn Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the outcome, saying it would strengthen Turkish democracy, and pledged commitment to secularism.

"The Justice and Development Party, which has never been a focal point of anti-secular activities, will continue to defend the basic principles of the republic," he said.

The AKP will carefully study the ruling and step up efforts to heal political divisions, he said, reasserting commitment also to Turkey's European Union membership bid.

Closing down the AKP, which dominates parliament and is still the country's most popular party, could have sparked political chaos, wrecked Turkey's EU accession talks and hit the economy.

The AKP, which won a resounding re-election victory last year, was accused of seeking to install a regime based on Sharia law, charges that it vehemently denies.

The prosecutor had also asked the court to bar President Abdullah Gul, Erdogan and 69 other AKP officials from party politics for five years.

http://newageislam.com/turkey-s-ruling-party-narrowly-escapes-ban/muslims-and-islamophobia/d/354

Politics and religion, Islam and Politics, NewAgeISlam.com

Islam and Politics

Politics and religion

By Nauman Asghar

April 18, 2008

But the ultra-secularists have failed to reconcile with AKP and therefore in April last year, the army threatened to intervene if Abdullah Gul was elected the president. Erdogan took a sane step by calling an early election and staged comeback with massive majority in July 2007. By August AKP succeeded in its efforts to elect Gul. Since elections the AKP seems more confident as it relishes the growing support base. In February 2008, it passed legislation to permit the wearing of Islamic-style headscarves on college campuses, effectively deciding Turkey's most divisive political issue.

http://newageislam.com/politics-and-religion/islam-and-politics/d/38