Free Republic

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...

ANKARA, August 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, one of Turkey's best-known Islamic leaders, plans to run in early elections despite a five-year ban on political activity for anti-secular activities that got him ousted after a one-year term, a close colleague said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. "Erbakan said he has been told by attorneys that there is no obstacle preventing him from standing as an independent candidate," said Recai Kutan, head of the pro-Islamic Felicity Party (SP), one of the successors to Erbakan's banned Welfare Party. Kutan, who spoke on Turkish television late Wednesday, August...