For some reason, I don´t know why has my visits in Turkey given me a very caring attitude to the country. To me it is a country with hardworking and very friendly people. The work that Kemal Ataturk did in order to close the books to the old Osman times, and position the country to western thinking was remarkable. And in so way Turkey has become the bridge between the Islamic world and the west in a both physical and menthal meaning.
To me, and also Sweden in general therefore we have every reason to support the forces that work for Turkish membership in the EU. The red flags that resently has waved in demonstrations in support for a secular Turkey, is in this respect also a cry for help sent to the western world.
In many ways it is all a matter of who is extending the influence over the Turkish people. Will the Islamic laws practised in Iran also cover Turkey some day in a close future, or will the secular forces be strong enough to resist?
Turkey is vital to the development in Europe, but also is the development extremely vital to the future life for its women. I want to see them proud and strong like the women in this picture, not suppressed and covered with a Burkah.
2007.05.17
Jarl Strömbäck
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