A Violent Detour in Turkey

A Violent Detour in Turkey - New York Times: "In recent years, there has been much debate in Turkey over the conflicts between its secular constitution and many Turks' conservative Muslim impulses.

This month, a gunman shot five judges in a courthouse, killing one and wounding the others. Initial reports indicated that the assailant was enraged about a decision by the judges that strictly upheld Turkey's ban on wearing head scarves in public buildings. The news further polarized the debate over the role of religion in public life, and the judge's funeral turned into a mass demonstration in support of staunch secularism.

The outcry was seen as a setback for Turkey's ruling party, in power since 2002, which supports a greater public role for religious expression.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a conservative Muslim, but he also has overseen the pro-Western reforms that qualified Turkey to open membership talks with the European Union. During the reform process, he stressed that more democracy was the best way to resolve Turkey's polarizing issues. He was right, and now is the time for him to forcefully reassert that view. Washington can help promote Turkish democracy by using its longstanding ties with Turkey's generals to communicate zero tolerance for military meddling.

Turkey borders Iran, Iraq and Syria, and is an ally of Israel, a member of NATO and a candidate for the European Union. The world can ill afford for it to become less democratic. "