: Don’t Tell Anyone: Islamic Party Could Win in Turkey

The last time an openly Islamic government won elections in Turkey, it was abruptly ended in a bloodless military coup. Now – if you believe the word on the street – the AK party, which bills itself as “conservative democratic” but is widely perceived as being Islamic – is poised to win upcoming elections. Turkey’s political scene has been turbulent lately, and the fast-rising AK Party has taken advantage of the situation to reach 30% approval in the polls, with 54% still undecided. The US has expressed concern about the resurgence of political Islam in NATO-member Turkey, one of its staunchest Muslim allies in the war on terrorism. If the AK does win, you can be sure that it will tiptoe around the powerful military in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the 1997 coup.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.