Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted governing party says it is on a mission: to prove that Islam is compatible with democracy.
| I'm on a mission, too: to find a kosher ham sandwich. |
So, Turkey appears to be an ideal host for a two-day summit that began Tuesday at which political and civil leaders from Muslim countries are addressing the struggle for democracy in the Islamic world. Yet, even within Turkey the idea of combining democracy and Islam is a tense issue. Erdogan's push has been hailed by some in the West who are looking for an example of an overwhelmingly Muslim country that has embraced democracy. But others in Turkey fear that heightened Islamic sentiment in the government could weaken the country's staunch official secularism. "I do not claim, of course, that Turkey's experience is a model that can be implemented identically in all other Muslim societies," Erdogan said in a speech in Washington earlier this year. "However, the Turkish experience does have a substance which can serve as a source of inspiration for other Muslim societies, other Muslim peoples."
| That's true, which is why Turkey is roundly reviled among Islamists. |
Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said Tuesday that there was no single model for the region. "A one blueprint for all action plan is unrealistic," he said in a speech.
| "Therefore we should do nothing." |
Representatives from a dozen other countries, such as Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Bahrain and Bosnia-Herzegovina are participating in the summit. Representatives of Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose human rights records have been criticized by the United States, did not come. Cemil Cicek, Turkey's justice minister, criticized those who link terrorism with Islam. "Let me clearly state that (terrorism) has nothing to do with the essence of Islam," he said at the opening of the conference. But he added: "Democracy, human rights and rule of law are very urgent needs for the Islamic community."
| And terrorism has lots to do with the essence of Islamism... |
The Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World comes amid a U.S. push for reforms in the Middle East, as well as debate over the role of religion in political life in Islamic countries and concerns about the prospects for democracy in countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The meeting is sponsored by the U.N. Development Program and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which is headed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is attending.
| Why did any confidence I might have had in the effort just evaporate? |
"It was a conscious choice to hold this meeting in Turkey," said Abdel Karim al-Iryani, a former prime minister of Yemen, who is attending the congress. "The (Turkish) Islamic movement embraced the secular state. This new experience in Turkey is a model for all Muslim countries." |