~Ataturk had alot of difficulty trying to secularize. He arrested, subdued & even executed many clerics.~
Who he thought he was? Assad, Gaddafy or maybe even Saddam?
Too bad Obama, Hillary and McCain weren’t around to save peace preaching mullahs the trouble like they restlessly do in Libya, Syria and so on.
Turkey might have been dar-es-salam many years ago in this case.
None of the above. Horses for courses (different strokes for different folks) as they say.
Must add, since Ataturk everything & most things positive Turks have to date, domestically & internationally, are because of processes, economically, socially & politically, Ataturk put in place, during his time, despite the Islamics; that includes multi-faceted modernity post Ottoman Empire.
However, two things Ataturk couldn't entirely change, that his short life, and will be subject to the will of the Islamists are culture and mentality of the majority of Turks. You see, unlike Iran, for example, the Turks do not have a strong alternative (non-Islamic) religion, and have not carried over their pre-Islamic culture with them since the Islamic conquest.
So, dar-e-eslam was many yrs ago, but still is very much alive and kicking; no matter how dormant. More so because by majority the Turks are very much Sunni (85% of muslim world & worldwide are Sunni), and they have a track-record of controlling Mecca for some centuries. That much is very understood by the Most muslims. All the Turks or the influential Islamic portion of them have to do, even gradually, is to awaken that 'Islamic greatness & prestige'.