I stand by my attacks on Michael Rubin as he and the American Enterprise Institute are tools of the neoconservative establishment. The same establishment that engineered the travesty of the invasion of Iraq, the oppression of Palestinians, the overthrow of the democratically elected governments of Iran in the 1950s, Chile in the 1970s and in Venezuela as recently as 200o. Washington’s power brokers need to respect democracy and the will of the people and stop interfering with the policies of other countries. As for the Turks. they should reject outside interference in their domestic politics.

The AKP is waiging a very well-financed, well-connected campaign to promote its image as "the" democratic party, and it is doing it in  English.  If Turks want the truth to come out, they must, as you have, speak up.  I encourage you to keep speaking up and to say what’s on your mind and express your opinions.After all, to extradite you to Turkey for being a member of Ergenekon for daring to express your opposition to the AKP would take so long, that the AKP will be long out of office before it could ever happen … hehehe

However, economic power can be used to achieve political purposes.  Open trade and foreign ownership of vital natural resources can serve a political purpose by placing economic power in the hands of third parties, which can definitely affect the balance of power between the parties involved.  A large part of Turkey’s economy and income is tied to the transport of oil and gas from the Middle East and increasingly the former Soviet republics–which is what the Middle East Initiative is about.

In any event, all countries take some measures to protect their economy and natural resources from undue influence and control by outside sources for a good reason.

The AKP did not win a "large majority" in either of the last two elections.  It won a plurality.  The majority in the last election, 53% of the voting public, voted for parties other than the AKP.  In addition, many secularists voted for the AKP in the last election based upon its promises of moderation–a platform it threw out the window upon taking office. 

No democracy allows those elected into office to run rough-shod over the minority, or in this case, the majority.  Nor does democracy or the rule of law allow or turn a blind eye to the corruption or crimes committed by elected officials-they are not above the law.  And, the argument that "others before were just as bad" does not save the day, nor justify the AKP’s actions.

While the AKP has embraced the EU accession process, it has done so merely to use the "reforms" imposed by the EU to consolidate and abuse its power.  It has also used the "reforms" to stifle opposition and promote an Islamic agenda that the vast majority of the public vehemently opposes.

As for the economic progress you reference, much of it is illusory and based upon the sale of the Republic’s assets to foreign interests, which leaves the country at the economic mercy of outsiders whose interests do not necessarily coincide with what is in the best interest of Turkey’s citizens.  While an open market and free trade is desirable, steps should have been taken to ensure the country could not be held hostage economically by third parties whose objectives do not take into account the country’s best interests.

As for the position of women, women play a vital role in every aspect of Turkish society, culture, politics and economic life, and they have done so since the war of independence in which they carried ammunition to the front lines.  Women are not prohibited from attending university for wearing simple scarves tied under their chin, which is traditionally how Turkish women who wanted to wear scarves wore them in Turkey. 

The hijab, however, is a recent import from the Arab world and, make no mistake about it, it is a political symbol designed to display openly the political affiliation of the woman’s family.  Such religious political symbols have no place in government institutions.  Tuition at public universities are fully paid by the government.  Women who must display their political affiliations can do whatever they want in private universities, but not in public universities.  Aside from that, this opinion piece is not about headscarves or religion.  This piece is about oppression of the media and crimes committed by elected AKP officials, but thank you for trying to explain how oppressing women is really “liberating” them.

As for your atacks on Michael Rubin, they do nothing to refute the facts he relates.

The following statement you make illustrates that there is much about this subject that you don’t know:

"the government in power in the US should be recognized for the pernicious influence that it is"

Do you know that the U.S. and EU are 100% behind and fully support the AKP–because of course, the AKP serves their interests.

Don’t let your religious beliefs cloud your view on this issue.  The headscarf dispute is a red herring.  It is not what the opposition to the AKP stems from. 

The real issue is that the AKP has undermined Turkey’s independence, which is what the EU and the U.S. want because that promotes their so-called greater Middle East Initiative/Project. It is the erosion of Turkey’s independence, which cost us millions of lives and was won largely as a result of Ataturk’s leadership, vision and insight, that people oppose.

The AKP is the Turkish Humenyni and their concept of Islam is the Taliban version. This party is dangerous not only for Turks but for the entire world. Since they came power, the hate crimes against Jews and Christians started and escalated at an alarming rate.

The AKP is  the Turkish Humenyni and their concept of Islam is the Taliban version. This party is dangerous not only for Turks but for the entire world. Since they came  power, the hate crimes against Jews and Christians started and escalated at an alarming rate.

The AKP is a democratically elected party which came to power after winning two elections with a large majority. This gives it the right to govern and the majority of Turks obviously support it.
The AKP has presided over rapid economic growth, dramatically improved economic indicators including drastically reduced inflation and booming international trade. The AKP has reformed Turkey’s political system and reduced human rights violations to the extent the EU has given the chance to the Turks to start membership negotiations, something that would have been unthinkable a few years back.
Turkey has improved its relations with its eastern neighbours and has managed to maintain close relations with the US despite the madness of the Bush administration in Iraq. This is in itself no mean accomplishment.
The charges against the AKP accusing it of undermining the secular state rest on the notion that the decision to lift the headscarf ban undermined secularism, but this is nothing if not a slur to the Turkish state’s self proclaimed laicite more than anything. The idea that secularism needs to defend itself by depriving women the right to education simply on account of the way they choose to dress suggests that secularism is a fickle, intolerant ideology that represses rather than emancipates.
The idea that the AKP is anti-woman can easily be refuted by the attempts by the party to allow headscarved women to attend university, as well as the important role Turkish women continue to play in society six years after the AKP’s takeover.
As regards corruption, the fact remains that Turkey, like most emerging economies has wrestled with this problem in years. Previous Turkish governments with far poorer economic records than the AKP have had major corruption scandals on their heads. Likewise, that the corruption under the AKP may not be anythere are spectacular as under previous governments may be inferred from their strong economic record.

Michael Rubin is affiliated with the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, which is one of the architects of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Its other figures include Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch politician who fabricated and concocted her life story in order to obtain asylum in the Netherlands and subsequently turned into an ally of the Dutch far right. So policymaking on the basis of lies is second nature to such people.

The Turks have a right to participate in the political system of their democracy without interference from neocon idealogues like Rubin whose open contempt for the tenets of democracy are plain. Even more disturbing, given Washington’s sordid record of overthrowing governments the world over, ( Iran, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ghana etc etc ), the unholy alliance between such ideologies and the government in power in the US should be recognized for the pernicious influence that it is.