egb_hibs
Private Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2002
I will fess up and admit I originally thought this was getting more coverage than in warranted, but fair play to the media, it seems like the ostensible cause of the riots is just a trigger for something more important.
As the 'arab spring' comparisons come into play, it poses a quandary. While the security services are (mostly) obeying the government and shoeing the protestors, the protestors are actually on the side of turkish secularism, which only exists because the self same security forces enforce it over the (increasing) majority view.
The protestors, by popular account, are reacting to the encroachments on secularism by the immensely popular moderate islamic governing party. So what side to take for the western liberal democrat?
Personally, for me liberalism (in the non guardian / bbc modern hijack of the term) and secularism (similarly in non dawkins hijacked form) come, in the end, before democracy. So I'm with the rioters. But it's quite a dilemma, and one that would only get more so if, God forbid, it escalates. I hope / believe turkey is too mature a society for it to get that - at least for now.
But if it did, the western world would face some awkward questions in terms of who to back (leaving forms of backing out of it for now).
Any opinions?
As the 'arab spring' comparisons come into play, it poses a quandary. While the security services are (mostly) obeying the government and shoeing the protestors, the protestors are actually on the side of turkish secularism, which only exists because the self same security forces enforce it over the (increasing) majority view.
The protestors, by popular account, are reacting to the encroachments on secularism by the immensely popular moderate islamic governing party. So what side to take for the western liberal democrat?
Personally, for me liberalism (in the non guardian / bbc modern hijack of the term) and secularism (similarly in non dawkins hijacked form) come, in the end, before democracy. So I'm with the rioters. But it's quite a dilemma, and one that would only get more so if, God forbid, it escalates. I hope / believe turkey is too mature a society for it to get that - at least for now.
But if it did, the western world would face some awkward questions in terms of who to back (leaving forms of backing out of it for now).
Any opinions?
