Umstrittene Schweizer Sicherheitspolitik ... - ETH Zürich

Faruk Loğoğlu
much that Islamic fundamentalism that is on the rise; the problem is
rather the assertiveness of Islam in claiming more space in political life.
As I said, most of today’s armed clashes are sectarian conflicts. Many
of the ongoing fights – for example in Pakistan and in the Middle East –
are fights between Sunnis and Shiites. I think we are going to experience
more of these problems in the years to come. The real issue in the Islamic
world is that there is now a tendency to expand the role and space of
political Islam. The trend is not towards secularism – secularism is something
we are very proud of in Turkey – but in the opposite direction.
Look at Pakistan: They adopted Sharia law in certain parts of the country
with regard to some specific aspects of life. Look at Afghanistan: They
introduced new legislation, restricting the rights of women even further.
(Interestingly, there was a recent demonstration by Afghan women, but
probably in vain.)
There is a fundamental difference between civilizations that seek
their golden age in the future – Kissinger said that the US was one such
society – and those as some countries in the Middle East, especially in
the Islamic world, that seek their golden age in the past. Turkey has been
somewhere in between: it was predominantly Muslim, but it was a secular
democracy and we had a vision of our future in the future. In the near
past, however, Turkey has come under the influence of the trends prevailing
in the Islamic world. As a result, the space Islam wants to claim is
expanding in Turkey, too. I am not saying that Turkey is about to lose its
secular character. We are a democratic country where issues are decided
and resolved at the ballot box. However, there is a vital debate in our
country between the rising Islamist forces and the secular forces. The
secularists wish to protect what they believe to be the founding principles
of the Turkish Republic and maintain the separation of the affairs of the
state from the affairs of religion.
I am sure you remember the discussions on the Iraqi constitution:
there was an attempt to introduce an element of secularism. However,
the attempt failed. The best they could do was to introduce a provision
saying that no legislation was to be contrary to Islamic law and precepts.
Secularism lost. What is the answer here? In my judgement, there are
two key factors in the answer: gender equality and education. Gender
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