A memorandum issued over the weekend by the Turkish military has prompted words of caution and outrage inside Turkey. The memorandum, which threatened army intervention in defence of Turkish secularism, comes at a time of high tension in Turkey over the possibility of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a moderate Islamist, becoming the next president. [BBC, April 28] Turkish critics have lashed out against the "Jacobinism" of the hard-line secularists, stressed that "laicism" cannot be maintained at the expense of the rule of law, and lambasted the military for threatening a coup.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of nationalist protesters took to the streets across Turkey over the weekend to protest against the "erosion" of the secular framework of the country, and the encroachment of religion under the ruling AK party. [The Hindu, April 30]

From Madrid11.net Security Briefs, April 30

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