Shariah would be prevented by the EU ..

To tell the truth, the military have ensured that the secular system continues. They have ensured that sometimes by "jabbing" with the bayonet and sometimes by the deterrent effect the bayonet makes.

However, over the past four decades the world has changed in an incredible manner. The old concepts have come to be forgotten. Dictators who rely on Islam are trembling and falling. The terrorist attacks staged in the name of Islam have drawn a crushing reaction especially since the Sept. 11 incident and the Iraq War.

Now democracy and human rights have come up to the foreground. Countries who lack these values are being isolated from the rest of the international community, pushed into irregularities, coming under pressure.

In the past, military coups used to be condoned, even supported, on various grounds.

Today, they draw adverse reactions regardless of on what grounds they are staged.

The bottom line is that the era of both the regimes based on the religion factor and military coups, is over.

Who will protect us if the military do not stage a coup?
Let us take a look at the situation in Turkey in this context.

In our country there are still those — though in very small numbers — who want Shariah rule. Some of them come up and openly say so. Some others hide it from the public as their hidden agenda, waiting for a good opportunity to implement their plans when conditions are ripe.

On the other hand, "the fear of the military" or the "deterrent effect of the bayonet" which the secular-minded segment of the society sees as an insurance, is diminishing due to the changing conditions in the world and in Turkey.

Today, no one should expect a military coup in Turkey unless a civil war breaks out, plunging the country into chaos. That is, no one should expect a coup on the same "grounds" cited to justify the coups staged in the past. The TSK will be under growing pressure to return to its real function.

Well, then who will protect this society?

It can be easily perceived that many members of the Turkish society — a society that has gotten used to living under a steel umbrella all these years — do have that fear.

From now on EU membership is our insurance
The answer to this question is right before our eyes.

Our internal protection will shift to the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the external protection will come mainly from the European Union.

In a country that has become a full member of the EU, it would be impossible to set up a religious state. Such a thing would be entirely against the EU philosophy, the EU way of life and EU mechanisms.

Full membership would tie Turkey to the EU with millions of fine strings. Turkey would become so intertwined with the EU from the economic, social and political aspects that the Shariah-seekers would find the climate stifling. It would be out of question for them to bring about the kind of "world" they have in mind.

Secular-minded ones should embrace the EU, Islamists should oppose it
I am not guessing. These are experienced, proven developments.

In this framework, the secular-minded circles who want to protect Turkey’s system should be locking onto the EU membership target much more strongly. It is high time they saw that they would not be able to protect the system with the military’s bayonet in the long run. They must bring into the foreground the deterrent effect the EU would make.

Yet, curiously, the secularist circles view the EU with suspicion, thinking that, in the name of democracy and human rights the Islamist circles would gain ground and change the country’s system.

They could not be more wrong.

The EU — and not the fear of the bayonet — is the only way of elevating Turkey to the First League and of ensuring that it continues on its path with a democratic system.

In fact, the genuine Islamists are fleeing from the EU with all their might and the genuine Kemalists are running towards the EU. I think this confusion in the minds will continue for some time. Eventually, the facts will be seen.