Kemalism always saw the Ottoman legacy as a burden, an obstacle to modernization.

The secular Kemalist state was no less authoritarian than Erdoğan s populist Islamist regime if anything, it was more so.

He has broken the power of the military old guard and the hold of its stale Kemalist ideology the secular nationalism introduced by Turkey s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk thereby permanently altering the makeup of Turkish politics.

Customs that the Kemalist secular state suppressed, such as women s use of headscarves in public places, have reappeared, because rural Turks have more influence.

The current crisis reveals the depth of Turkey s identity complex, its oscillation between its Western oriented Kemalist heritage and its Eastern Ottoman legacy.

In 1908, he created the Rolex brand under which to sell his watches, and during World War I, he left England for Switzerland due to wartime tax increases levied on luxury imports.

The election of his political ally, Abdullah Gul, as president, against the army s will indeed, against the entire Kemalist tradition is a case in point.

If one cause of the repression of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is nationalism, though, the other one is the other pillar of the Kemalist ideology secularism.

Instead of complicating or refining their products, Indian innovators strip them down to their bare essentials, making them affordable, accessible, durable, and effective.

The Alevis, who had been protected by the secular Kemalist state, deeply distrust Erdoğan, who further unsettled them by planning to name a new bridge over the Bosphorus after a sixteenth century sultan who massacred their forebears.

To block a move aimed at outlawing his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan also domesticated Turkey s constitutional court together with the army a watchdog of Kemalism by arbitrarily changing its composition.

The current crisis reveals the depth of Turkey s identity complex, its oscillation between its Western oriented Kemalist heritage and its Eastern Ottoman legacy. Snubbed by the European Union, Erdogan is tilting the balance towards the latter.

Of course, in order to pressure North Korea s government to give up its nuclear option, the current international economic sanctions, which target WMD related products and luxury goods, probably should continue.

Over the years, Atatürk s ideas evolved into an official ideology called Kemalism, which had two main pillars A self styled secularism that bans anything but the secular way of life, and a fierce nationalism that defies anything it deems non Turkish.

Customs that the Kemalist secular state suppressed, such as women s use of headscarves in public places, have reappeared, because rural Turks have more influence. Young religious women are turning up at urban universities.

Over the years, Atatürk s ideas evolved into an official ideology called Kemalism, which had two main pillars A self styled secularism that bans anything but the secular way of life, and a fierce nationalism that defies anything it deems non Turkish.

Yet Erdogan has also been eager to use Europe s requirements as a pretext to curb the army s capacity to check his Islamic revolution. The election of his political ally, Abdullah Gul, as president, against the army s will indeed, against the entire Kemalist tradition is a case in point.