Yesterday, Paul Mirengoff at Power Line posted an article about the constitutional reforms approved by voters in Turkey over the weekend.
The article points out:
"...voters approved a sweeping package of constitutional reforms and, in the process, gave Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a vote of confidence. Erdogan's party has deep Islamic roots but, as J.E. Dyer points out, has been stymied to some degree in carrying out its Islamic vision by a combination of the courts and the military."
The new reforms expand the constitutional court from 11 to 17 judges, with Prime Minister Erdogan appointing 14 of them. This is troubling considering Prime Minister Erdogan's lack of respect for free speech, a free press, and women's rights.
The change also will diminish the role of Turkey's military in Turkish politics. Since the military has traditionally had strong ties with Israel, this change is seen as a moving away from Israel.
What is actually happening here is that we are watching a secular democracy morph into an Islamic caliphate. I am not sure how long this process will take, but Turkey in the past year has loosened its ties to Israel and strengthened its ties to Iran and Syria. This is something we need to pay attention to. Not all revolutions ionvolve gunfire.
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