ARTICLE: "Presidential Pick in Turkey Is Sign Of a Rising Middle Class," by Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, 25 April 2007, p. A1. ARTICLE: "Turkish Islamists Hope to Ride Competence to Victory: To the secular elite, politicking can seem like demeaning work," by Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, 4 May 2007, p. A3. MEMO: "In Turkey, Fear and Discomfort About Religious Life: 'Even if Erdogan walked on water, the secularists wouldn't trust him," by Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, 30 April 2007, p. A4.

We are watching Europe's future in Turkey: Islamists from the middle class who present themselves as competent administrators of a modern state that nonetheless--in their mind--needs more religion--you know, the Republicans. And you know, there really isn't anything wrong with that, so long as your religion ends where it bumps into my political freedoms. I know, I know. Easier said than done. The real fear here, of course, of state-imposed religious strictures--again, not that different from America, is it? They just focus on what women wear, while we focus on pregnancies. So yeah, we're further down the road, but it's the same road. To succeed without triggering the military coup (Turkey's rather crude Supreme Court), Islamists need to show they can rule without prejudice, that at the end of the day the law stands supreme and that law is secular. But make no mistake, we will see the yin-yang pull played out in Europe in the future, with both sides evincing far less maturity than we're seeing here, so scarier before it gets calmer.