Turkish Military High Command's Neighbors Takes A Step Toward Islamism

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By Barry Rubin

Compare the election results from voters in the neighborhood where several Turkish generals live to that of the overall population: 138 CHP (Kemalists); 50 MHP (Nationalists); 46 AKP (Islamists); 2 SP (even more radical Islamists). So on one hand while the population gave 50 percent to the Islamists, the high-ranking military officers and their neighbors gave them just 20 percent. On the other hand, such a high vote for Islamists even in that fortress of secularism as the traditional Turkish elite indicates the gradual infiltration of Islamist supporters into that sector. They might be sincere or opportunistic, of course, but in a sense it doesn’t matter. Four years from now, after another term for the AKP, it might well be far higher.