Turkey, home of a largely secular democratic state since the 1920s, stands as Exhibit A for those who believe that nations can be both predominantly Muslim and democratic. That may be. But Turkey also proves the difficulty associated with that happening.
Turkey still deals, for example, with a conservative form of Islam that mandates the murder of young girls for manifesting natural and innocent interest in the opposite sex.
Now, the potential prison sentences for would-be murderers have become so daunting that parents are actually encouraging their daughters to commit suicide. "Honor suicides," they call them.
Turkey, which has been seeking membership in the European Union for some time, is being told by the EU that such practices must be brought to an end first. The Turkish government is trying, apparently, but these barbaric traditions are proving stubbornly resistant to change.
Annie Gottlieb has excerpts from a disturbing article and adds a few comments of her own.
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