Something monumentally important and hopeful is happening in Turkey. Since 9/11 we have been asking, where are the Muslim moderates? All too often the answer is manning the barricades for the extremists. No more. In Turkey they march, organize and march some more. How come?

1. The experience of (be it imperfect and interrupted)democratic governance has convinced Turks the value of political freedom especially as they were watching the consequences of Islamists rule in Iran. Do not forget Iran is the main route for the thousands and thousands of Iranians escaping that Mullahcracy. No, they will not let Turkey become another economic and political basket case like Iran. When a 17 year old murdered an Armenian Turkish writer, they know they may be next, so they went to the funeral and discovered their power:

 

Turkish liberals, followers of the country’s European vocation, believers in the power of civil society to move mountains and people’s minds, also have their battalions. “We realized we were not alone,” a professor friend said as she and a hundred thousand others, maybe more, walked the route of Dink’s cortege the day of his funeral. There were Kurdish dissidents, trade unionists, an ordinary mother and daughter who live near me. Why Dink’s life provoked so spontaneous a display is hard to say. He was respected for speaking out, and held in affection because you could see, even on television, that he spoke from the heart. Many Turks want to talk openly about the past and he was brave enough to engage them in that conversation. People marched because they felt the bullies shouldn’t win. There is another story, an insight into a society that even at the most painful moments tries to do the decent thing. The father of Dink’s young assassin recognized the wanted photo on the television news as his son. He phoned the police.

Many Turks want to talk openly about the past and he was brave enough to engage them in that conversation. People marched because they felt the bullies shouldn’t win. There is another story, an insight into a society that even at the most painful moments tries to do the decent thing. The father of Dink’s young assassin recognized the wanted photo on the television news as his son. He phoned the police.

2. The economic growth generated by adherance to EU rules convinced Turks of the value of the rule of law. As a Turkish businessman told me in Konya (a stronghold of Sufism and the pro-modernization and interfaith Mevlana movement):

 

I don’t care whether we join the EU or not. Economically we have been part of Europe for years. It was the adoption of the EU commercial, employment and safety regulations which enabled me and others to grow our business. I do not have to operate in the midst of unbridled corruption and violence.

They had no desire to go back to the 7th century, thank you very much.

3. Having experienced the efficacy of the ballot box in getting rid of an entrenched, incompetent leadership once, they were not prepared to give it up to self appointed generals. Reading the public tea leaves correctly as they tend to do, the court stepped in and provided the current government with an elegant way out.

Last but not least, the political opposition realized that if they want to benefit from the current mood of the electorate they better get their act together.

The result?

Tens of thousands of people waving red Turkish flags filled the streets of the Black Sea city of Samsun on Sunday to protest against the Islamist-rooted government ahead of a July election.”No to Sharia [Islamic law]”, “Turkey is secular and will remain secular”, the crowd chanted in the main square.

The rally, the latest in a series of protests, was billed by organizers as a way of uniting the divided opposition against the government, which they accuse of trying to undermine the secular state in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey.

The latest protest follows a pact on Thursday between the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the smaller left-wing DSP to contest the July 22 election together.

The leaders of the two parties arrived at the demonstration together. Two right-wing parties have also merged.

There was a heavy police presence but a carnival atmosphere.

“We are here for an enlightened Turkey. We are here so that the future generations of our children can see good days. We are here so that they can see a totally independent Turkey, free of backwardness and Sharia,” said retired teacher Ahmet Altunkus.

The liberals in the Muslim world are watching, hoping and learning.

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