Free Republic

THE FOILING OF AN Islamist terrorist plot this week in Germany is noteworthy for several reasons that may not have been obvious from the headlines. The first is the involvement of an ethnic Turk. On Tuesday, police in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia seized three men identified as a Turk and two German converts to Islam (under German court rules, their full names were not released). While the activity of converts in terrorism is not new, the Turkish community in Germany has so far been free of the plague of religious extremism. Turkish and Kurdish immigrants to Germany and...

Turkey's Constitutional Court overturned one of the ruling AK party’s central “reforms” – an amendment to the Turkish constitution that reintroduced Islamic headscarves in public universities, undermining decades of secularism in this Muslim country that wants to join the European Union. The opposition CHP party sued to block the amendment, and the court sided with them 9 to 2. Reuters reports that overturning the amendment is the opening salvo in taking Turkey back from the Islamists: The headscarf amendment plays a central role in a separate, crucial case that seeks to outlaw the AK Party for anti-secular activities, and ban...

Opinion polls in Turkey say the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party will probably win emergency elections due in November, as Islamic politics fill the vacuum created by a failure of political leadership. Turkey is unique, a secular democracy in an Islamic nation. It is a key strategic ally of the US which borders Iraq. It cannot be allowed to fail - hence the massive loan from the International Monetary Fund which is saving Turkey from defaulting on its international debts. But Turkey's current leaders are accused of failing the nation, especially the poor and oppressed. Opinion polls say the Justice...