Turkey has, for a long time, been one of the most secular members of the Islamic community of nations in the Middle East. Not only has this awarded Turkey a special spot in the politics of the West, but Turkey has found pride in being one of the most advanced democracies of the region. Secularization, though, has become increasingly unpopular within the Turkish population, and this has manifested politically during this past decade through the popularity of the AKP (Justice and Development Party ).

Writing on Egypt and changes in the Middle East, Thomas Friedman writes,

As The Economist noted about the rule of the A.K.P. in Turkey in its Nov. 26 issue, “Around 76 journalists are now behind bars” in Turkey, “more than in China, many of them for supposed terrorist crimes. … The West does not seem to notice the steady deterioration in human rights in Turkey, instead extolling it as a model for the Arab spring.”

It is noteworthy that Turkey’s form of religious secularization is different from the United States’. Where we are passively secular, Turkey has practices active secularization (similar to France). Where the American political system has opted not to rule on what to allow with regards to religion, instead giving Americans a black check of sorts, Turkey has for some time actively attempted to limit religious practices in public. The most well known case of this was the ban of religious head garbs, which was recently overturned thanks to the AKP.

Attacks on how individuals choose to worship has caused a radical reaction, and the worst consequence of this has manifested: political radicalization.