TURKEY: Religious extremism on the rise in Turkey's southeast region, creating fears ahead of elections, EU entry talks

In the heartland of Turkey's southeast, plagued by decades of conflict between separatist Kurdish rebels and the state, a new threat to secularism is emerging -- Islamist groups. Local politicians say these organisations are becoming more active in the poor region that borders Iraq and Syria, and some fear this could fan fundamentalism, especially among the region's young population. As in the rest of predominantly Sunni Muslim Turkey, practising one's religion here long took a backseat to a public espousal of the secularism of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the republic's founder. However, since the AK Party, which has roots in political Islam, swept to power in 2002, Muslims are now being more open about their faith. In the southeast's largest city, mosques are welcoming more worshippers, non governmental organisations with a religious overtone are helping the poor and the number of unofficial prayer rooms is on the rise, say politicians and lawyers. Tensions between the AK Party and the army, which sees itself as the guardian of the secularist system and resents EU criticism that it should stay out of politics, have intensified. The powerful military has warned that Islamic fundamentalism rather than Kurdish separatism is the new threat to Turkey. Demonstrations in favour of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, a regular event in Diyarbakir, have been replaced by pro-Islam rallies. The AK Party says this activity is not a threat. "These (religious) groups are not dangerous for us, they live in Turkey. We have to find ways to allow them to express themselves said Diyarbakir's AK Party chairman Abdurrahman Kurt. Many local politicians are concerned by the rise of legal but shadowy NGOs like Mustazaflar, meaning "the downtrodden", which made headlines by organising a protest attended by more than 80,000 people against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. Mustazaflar leader and lawyer Ishak Saglam declined to comment, saying only that his association would comment once its projects were finished. He gave no further details. Locals say security forces have in the past turned a blind eye to groups such as the Turkish Hezbollah, which sought to set up a theocracy, hoping they would weaken the PKK. Muslim brotherhoods, mostly non-violent, were banned by Ataturk but they have slowly re-emerged over the years. "Islam is like a tree, it has roots, and new branches will come even they cut it," said Islamist lawyer Sikti Zilan referring to Kemalism, a secularist ideology based on Ataturk's ideas. Geographically, conservative Diyarbakir is closer to Iran, Syria and Iraq than the traditionally secularist capital Ankara. The rise of religious organisations here mirrors the increasing popularity of the AK Party, despite the fact that it has made little headway in solving key regional issues like the headscarf ban, Kurdish rights, education and poverty. Lawyer Zilan says the AK Party is the natural ally of Kurds because they are deeply conservative and tired of the PKK's violence and state efforts to secularise them. Islamist-leaning Kurds hope the 2007 elections will usher in a new period of more religious freedom, particularly an easing of state controls over mosques, more faith-based teachings and a lifting of the ban on headscarves in schools and public offices. "I'm very worried ... I fear they'll become more powerful and could turn to radical movements" said Firat Anli, major of a district of Diyarbakir and member of the main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society party, referring to a defunct armed group, active in the 1990s. The role of religion in daily life has become an important political issue in Turkey as the country prepares for a general election next year, and as entry talks with the European Union reach a critical point. Brussels is due to release a progress report on Nov. 8, and is expected to conclude the reform process has slowed.

ITN Source | October 31, 2006

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