jwschmidt,

That's good to hear. Hopefully the AKP will change their ways seeing that foreign opinion (which has typically ridiculed secular Turk's concerns regarding the AKP's agenda) is changing.

jwschmidt:

Thus, your comments would seem to indicate to most westerners who are concerned about "Islamism" in politics that this was a victory for fundamentalists.

Well I would question this statement for 2 reasons: 1) The change to the constitution may be vetoed by the constitutional court 2) Push back from university Dean's and students has been quite strong.

And ultimately the AKP is now having to prepare a defense case to prevent the party from being shut down. So I wouldnt consider it a victory.

If you pardon my historical musing, the cold war was when autocratic / military governments promoted islamic identity against both mild and radical left wing politics, in both Turkey and Pakistan. The west, chiefly the US through the CIA and its armed forces, played a big part in that process,

Look forward to hearing from you, regards