Turkish State Minister Insists Country Isn't Becoming Islamic State, Reporters Won't Let Go Of The Issue

Kemal Ataturk would be sorely disappointed at what is happening in Turkey....

From Jihad Watch:

Turkish state minister insists country isn't becoming Islamic state, reporters won't let the issue go


One gets the impression from this report that about all Faruk Çelik could do was to keep repeating the refrain, "Turkey is a secular, democratic country," and hope it would stick if he said it enough. At least a few reporters seemed to be having none of it.



"Turkey not becoming an Islamic country, state minister says," from the Hürriyet Daily News, January 14:



State Minister Faruk Çelik on Friday said Turkey is a democratic, secular country and its position, as it continues to work toward EU membership, is very clear and not open to any controversies.

Çelik spoke to foreign journalists gathered at the Prime Ministry's office at Dolmabahçe Palace on Friday on a variety of subjects, from the so-called "alcohol prohibition" to Ayşe Sucu's removal from the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation.

However, new restrictions on Turkey's alcohol laws and the "shifting axis" issue dominated the press conference. Çelik and Public Diplomacy Coordinator Ibrahim Kalın replied to many questions about the new law, including queries on whether it was against human rights and freedoms and whether tourism would be affected.

Çelik said the government aimed to control unprotected sales but not to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in hotels or any place with a license to sell alcohol.

"The law favors hotels; it doesn't discriminate against them, thus it will not affect tourism," Kalın said.

Kalın said the legal age to purchase alcohol in Turkey is still 18, not 24 as has been reported in the press. "In a public event, people could bring gallons of alcohol without licenses; this sometimes causes people to open fire in the air." A reporter asked the pair, in response, "Instead of alcohol restrictions, is the government considering limiting individual armament?" Her question was not answered.

In response to journalist's observation that Turkey looks like a Sunni Islamic country in light of the new restrictions, Çelik said the fact that the majority of the country is Muslim is another issue but the state is a democratic and secular country....Posted by Marisol on January 15, 2011 7:53 AM