Yep. It is too late.

And Turkey was held up as a model of secularized Islamic governance and society.

Enforced by military power over democratic civilian institutions.

Is this the future of Europe?

Perhaps there is something about Islam, that is undesirable, and therefore those who profess to follow it, should not be welcomed to countries who profess to defend liberty...lest they have to implement coup provisions in their constitutions. And as we can see, that is no guarantee.

How long before Turkey is admitted to the EU?

We live in interesting times.

I wonder if this isn't a set-up, in order to break the Army's back.

Their "plot" reads like a 9/11 troofer conspiracy theory.

But then we seem to be living in a world that increasingly makes no rational sense.

BTW - I think EU and NATO also should be looking very closely at Turkey. I hope that Turkey remains essentially secular and a Western ally but I am increasingly concerned.

This was a purge. Turkey is devolving into yet another political Mideast army filled with reliable cronies. Expect to see Iranian military advisers soon and the creation of a Revolutionary Guard as well.

If Turkey is to eventually become a member of the EU, you cannot have the military trying to overthrow the democratically elected government, any more than this would be tolerable in Greece or Spain.

Similarly, you can't have a devout islamist government join the secular eu.

Seems to me that Turkey, for now, has turned its back on civilization and is putting its lot with islamism.

Eddie,
I think that way back in 2003 it became visible that Turkey, when it refused the US permission to enter Iraq from the north, had turned its back on its NATO partners and the West.
But of course that was the beginning of the political hogwash to blind Americans to what was happening in the region and was followed, for example, by the NIE report that Iran was not trying to get nuclear weapons etc.

Eddie - many European countries have Christian parties that are intermittenly part of governing coalitions.

Cynic - but Turkey and France turned out to be correct; there was no valid basis for invading Iraq.

Ron, Did Saddam Husseins Iraq ever have WMDs?

Ron Newman, I agree with you about the need for stable, elected governments which don't live in fear of military takeovers.

And, you're right about parties with the term "Christian" running for office in Europe, this not being considered a big deal.

However, Turkey, its past, its cultural foundations and certain anti-democratic aspects of sharia law need to be considered in contrast especially to post-Enlightenment Europe.

Admittedly, it's only relatively recently that women became eligible to vote and even here in America citizens of color were segregated just a few decades ago.

All that aside, Ataturk's removal of religion from Turkey's public and political sphere enabled it to progress rapidly and importantly for Europe and NATO, Israel and the US, Turkey has become an ally.

Thanks to Ataturk, unveiled and legally equal women were able to be seen and to participate fully in the political and economic process. The state itself adapted a Western alphabet and began to face toward the future whereas much of the region continues to struggle with the most basic principles of human rights and open government.

Iran had been moving somewhat in that direction under the Shah - for all his bad characteristics at least women weren't veiled.

Simply forcing women back into the veil has had more ramifications on Iranian society let alone individual women than you might think - when the mullahs came to power much forward political and social progress came to a halt and now we see a would-be nuclear state that continues to stone people for adultery and which oppresses dissent to the point of executing the opposition.

The Jewish community alone has shrunk enormously in size and Ba'hai is outlawed altogether. We all know what the Iranian leadership thinks of Israel and in fact, Jews there are suppressed politically regardless of Roger Cohen's apologia to the contrary. Indeed the ruling religious body handpicks the slate of candidates who can run for office and has possibly manipulated the outcome of the last election, assuring the retention of a hardline Islamist government.

So there are different kinds of progress - and ignoring the potential impact of a religious ruling party on Turkey is foolish I think.

There are elements to the movement of Turkey toward an Islamist point of view that simply don't equate equally to the presence of "Christian Democrats" in Germany - which as of course you know is led by Angela Merkel.

Somehow I don't see her criminalizing adultery or turning Germany into a theocracy.

Again, Ron Newman, did Saddam Husseins Iraq ever have WMDs?