On Turkish streets, local battles over Islam's role
Amid the deep political crisis over the country's presidency, secularists bemoan an incremental Islamization of everyday life on the local level.
from the May 9, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
AKP leaders rein in local officials
In his wood-paneled office, Hasan Can, the AKP mayor of Istanbul's sprawling Umraniye district, says he believes what the opposition really fears is the party's success on the local level, going on to describe the AKP's well-oiled political machine that provides coal and food to the poor and that has in the last three years built eight cultural centers in a borough that previously had only one.
Umraniye, on Istanbul's eastern edge, is rapidly swelling with migrants from Turkey's conservative Anatolian heartland. Once filled with ramshackle homes, today Umraniye has one of Istanbul's hottest property markets, with high-rise apartment complexes now ringing the area.
"The people want a more modern life, one filled with culture," says Mr. Can. "They would like to be able to fill their stomachs and live a modern life.... That's what the AK Party is giving them."
Asked about fears that the AKP is injecting religion into its work, the mustachioed Can smiles. "I have been talking for an hour; has there been any religion in what I said?" he asks. "This is a political discourse that's not based in reality."
Still, the AKP's leadership appears to aware of the impact, at least in symbolic terms, of its party's local activity, recently warning mayors and local leaders to refrain from using religious references in their publications. It may also try to purge some of its more conservative members before the upcoming elections, say analysts.
"Until now, they have been pretty loose with the local administrations, but I think that is going to change," says Mehmet Ali Birand, a commentator for CNN Turkey.
"If one municipality does something, another one thinks it's a good idea to do it as well," he says. "It generates a momentum, and the party needs to do something to discipline them."
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