ROUNDHEAD REDUX:

Turkey's march West (Yigal Schleifer, 10/07/04, The Christian Science Monitor)

As a devout Muslim, Celal Hasnalcaci believes women should cover their hair and dress modestly, as the Koran teaches. As the general director of Keep Out, a growing company that exports denim clothing from this city in the Turkish heartland to Europe, he makes jeans that hug the hips and expose more than a bit of midriff, as today's fashion dictates.

Mr. Hasnalcaci, a soft-spoken man with a graying mustache, sees no contradiction in that. He is both a Muslim and a businessman, he says. He also sees no contradiction in Muslim Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

"Our religion is Islam, but it doesn't say not to join with others. It says take your religion everywhere and show its goodness. If you don't show yourself, they won't understand you," he says.

"If we want to be modern and be technical and improve, we have to be together with the Europeans," he adds.

Hasnalcaci is part of a fast-rising entrepreneurial class known as the Anatolian Tigers.

Over the past decade, these Islamic-minded business owners from Turkey's conservative Anatolia region have emerged as a counterweight to the country's established secular elite.

As Turkey moves ever closer to its long-held goal of joining the EU, people like Hasnalcaci have become an important - and perhaps surprising - force behind the country's westward push.

They're embracing the old elite's European dream for Turkey, yet steadfastly holding on to their Muslim identity and conservative lifestyle.

It is a synthesis, observers here say, that could influence which Turkey will eventually greet Europe - and which aspects of Europe Turkey will eventually accept.

"This is the new face of Turkey. Ten years ago, some of this Islamic bourgeoisie was hesitant about joining the EU, but the hearts and minds have changed," says Nilufer Narli, a sociologist at Istanbul's Kadir Has University.

"They are for progress and modernization but with a big difference - they want to conserve their traditional life in the family and with their acquaintances," she adds. "They really want to adopt European norms, but there are some areas, like gender relations, where it won't be easy for them to do that."

Upon such a foundation--not unlike the Protestant middle class of 17th Century Britain--might a great Islam be built, one that will rapidly surpass the dying secular Europe and become a genuine counterpart to America.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 6, 2004 7:50 PM