The song doesn't end here.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

This country is in a mess. You can't wear the hijab at Universities? Huh? You can't wear the hijab if you work for the government? I think these "stiff" Turkish politicians misunderstood democracy. Kamal Ataturk did these guys wrong.

 

As you probably have heard, the Islamist party won the majority in the recent Turkish parliamentary elections. CNN did a profile on the man behind the victory. This guy was jailed for reading a "religious" poem in public. As the generals took him to prison, he was last quoted as saying ..."The song doesn't end here." . Well he was right. His party came out victorious in the recent election. Turks were probably fed up with the corrupt, pro-wester politicians.

 

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CNN.com

 

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Just two years ago, tens of thousands of supporters led Recep Tayyip Erdogan to prison, where he served a four-month sentence for reading an Islamic poem at a rally that angered the staunchly secular courts.

 

As he walked into the prison, Erdogan quoted a Turkish saying: "The song doesn't end here."

 

Erdogan was right: His Justice and Development Party took an absolute majority in parliament in elections on Sunday, and though he will not be in parliament because of his conviction, he is expected nonetheless to control the party's agenda.

 

The charismatic former mayor of Istanbul sought to reassure Turks that he does not intend to pursue a radical agenda but will maintain Turkey's secular, pro-Western stance. (Full story)

 

Erdogan's party won votes on his promise to clean up the corruption in Turkish politics that most Turks believe is to blame for the country's crushing economic recession.

 

Many fear that he wants to promote the pro-Islamic movement that has attracted him since his youth.

 

Erdogan, 48, was born into a working-class family in Istanbul and attended religious schools, where he learned the Koran.

 

He sold water and sweets at soccer games to earn extra money and became involved in the youth branch of the National Salvation Party, a pro-Islamic party that opposed Turkey's entry into the European Union and promoted the Islamic-style head scarf for women.

 

He rose to lead the youth branch of the party and was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994.

 

As mayor, Erdogan angered secularists by banning alcohol in city cafes.

 

His Welfare Party was forced from national government in 1997 under pressure from the military and was later outlawed by the courts for opposing secularism. While in power, the Welfare Party promoted ties with Iran and Libya and tried to adjust working hours to accommodate Islamic prayer times.

 

Erdogan was jailed in 1999 for four months for reading a poem that said: "Minarets are our bayonets, domes are our helmets, mosques are our barracks, believers are our soldiers."

 

A court found that the poem incited religious hatred.

 

But even his critics admit that he ran Istanbul well and his party became popular for running social welfare programmes for the city's poor, who were long ignored by politicians.

 

Pro-Islamic parties have provided pencils for school children, run charity centres and provided free ambulances for pregnant women.

 

Today, Erdogan says he has changed and no longer espouses the pro-Islamic politics that led to clashes with the secular establishment.

 

His new political party is pro-EU and Erdogan insists that he has no Islamic agenda.

 

The media is "insisting on saying that (Justice and Development) is religion-oriented. We do not accept this," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We are not making religiously oriented propaganda." (Press review)

 

But the secular establishment that has dominated the country since Turkey was established in 1923 is skeptical.

 

The election board has barred Erdogan from serving in parliament because of his conviction for reading the poem, and the courts want to close his party because he has refused to step down as leader of the party.

 

It is not clear who the party will name as prime minister, but lawmakers may try to overturn the ban.

 

Erdogan is married and has four children. One of his sons, Bilal, is pursing a master's degree at Harvard University.

 

Erdogan says his two daughters, Summeye and Esra, are studying at Indiana University in the United States because they could not enter Turkish universities wearing Islamic-style headscarves. Turkish law bars women who wear Islamic-style headscarves from studying at universities and working at government offices.

 

At a recent rally in Ankara, Erdogan spoke of the need for running water in every home and promised lower prices for fuel for farmers, but he never mentioned religion.

 

Unlike many Turkish politicians who appear stiff and distant, Erdogan was relaxed and informal, wearing a white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up. And in a country where titles and formalities are important, he is almost universally known by his first name, Tayyip.

 

The crowd cheered wildly after he spoke.

 

"Prime Minister Tayyip! Prime Minister Tayyip!" they chanted.

 

Many also held placards saying: "The song doesn't end here."

[nuune]

i wonder why they are calling this New Party an Islamist,is it because they had some links with Islamic organisations,did they forgot that this country is a Muslim Country,they know it is a Muslim country but they(Western) are really creating a lot problems and mess withiin this country!