Cumhuriyet Döneminin Sonu Geldi <

Eklenen görsel örneğin okunabilirliği az olduğundan mütevellit bir yazıma dökümünün eklenmesi gerekli görülmüştür.

Yanlış yönlendirme olmaması maksadıyla sadece orijinal İngilizce versiyonuna yer verilmiştir.

"abdullah gul is dressed in a well-cut suit and tie. the mp may be the deputy leader of turkey's islamic revivalist welfare party, refah, but he speaks good english and seems to have been schooled within the political traditions of the west.

such is his charm that mr gul is often given the task of explaining welfare's policies to suspicious foreigners. yet his message is unmistakably radical, a direct challenge to turkey's unique status as the only secular democracy among 52 muslim countries.

"this is the end of the republican period," mr gul says flatly. "if 60 per cent of ankara's population is living in shacks, then the secular system has failed and we definitely want to change it."

with a general election less than a month away, and welfare performing well in the opinion polls, mr gul's message cannot be ignored.

an opinion poll by the true path party of the prime minister, tansu ciller, puts the islamists in second place, 3 per cent behind true path, while other parties rank welfare first.

last year welfare made sweeping gains in local elections, winning the mayoralties of ankara and istanbul and 20 per cent of the vote. next month it is aiming for 30 per cent - enough to form turkey's next government.

that percentage will probably be difficult to achieve, because of the vote is fragmented between numerous left and rightwing secular parties, which have, however, not united to combat welfare.

fifteen years after the last military coup, many turks are disillusioned with the failure of secular politicians to tackle their mounting social and economic grievances. analysts agree that welfare will attract a large protest vote.

"they are a serious political force," said a western diplomat in ankara. "very purposeful, very organised. they are preying upon real structural problems that need to be solved. if welfare comes to power, will it still be one man, one vote?"

the party says it wants to abolish un-islamic bank interest rates and pull turkish troops out of the war zone of the mainly kurdish south-east, where vague talk of "muslim brotherhood" between turks and kurds has won it much support.

mrs ciller is standing on a rightwing law and order platform, with leading security chiefs standing beside her as candidates. she has taken tea with religious leaders and is anxious to present herself as a good muslim. but in europe she presents the election as a straightforward contest between pro-western reformers and islamic fundamentalism.

her opposition to fundamentalism has won her broad secular establishment support, including that of cefi kamhi, an istanbul industrialist and the first turkish jew attempting to enter parliament since 1957. "i see welfare as the major challenger," mr kamhi says.

welfare's leader, necmettin erbakan, is vehemently anti-jewish and has blamed christian armenians for turkey's social ills.

"europe is a continent of drug addicts - a cauldron of intrigue and oppression," mr erbakan said recently, describing welfare's mission to "forge the world unity of islam and rescue the west".

oguzhan asilturk, one of 38 welfare mps in the 440-seat parliament, refuses to rule out the possible introduction of islamic sharia law, because, he says, he does not want to hurt the feelings of welfare's supporters.

at the municipal level, welfare has been more restrained - championing headscarves against mini-skirts, promising to ban prostitution, describing ballet as indecent, demolishing "obscene" statues and painting bollards in istanbul an islamic green. "