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Mon, June 13, 2011 | Rubin Reports [2] | By Barry Rubin
Turkish Military High Command Takes A Step Toward Islamism
Compare the election results from voters in the Turkish army general staff to that of the overall population: 138 CHP (Kemalists); 50 MHP (Nationalists); 46 AKP (Islamists); 2 SP (even more radical Islamists).
So on one hand while the population gave 50 percent to the Islamists, the high-ranking military gave them just 20 percent. On the other hand, such a high vote for Islamists even in that fortress of secularism indicates the gradual infiltration of Islamist supporters into the army.
They might be sincere or opportunistic, of course, but in a sense it doesn’t matter.
Four years from now, after another term for the AKP, it might well be far higher.
Fri, June 17, 2011 | Rubin Reports [3] | By Barry Rubin
Turkish Armed Forces: Growing Support for Islamism
When people talk about Turkey the assumption is that the armed forces are still the guardians of the secular republic. But one of the important trends toward Islamism in the country is the infiltration of the military by Islamists or at least a growing belief by many soldiers that supporting the government party will aid their career. With the regime now reelected for four years and in a strong position to shape the new constitution, the army and the other remaining independent institution, the courts, are prime targets for fundamental transformation. A precinct exclusively used by air force personnel and their families in Diyarbakir — involving a cross-section of ranks — the vote totals [4] are astonishing: AKP (Islamists) 67 percent; CHP (social democrats, supporters of the traditional secular republic) 17 percent; MHP (right-wing nationalists), 14 percent. Note that the backing for the AKP is far higher than what it received from the country as a whole (just under 50 percent)! Have no doubt, the Turkish Islamist revolution is comprehensive, dangerous, and largely unnoticed in the West.
About the author,
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, and a featured columnist at PajamasMedia http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/ His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center is http://www.gloria-center.org.