Turkey and the European Union
current government of the moderately religious AK Party, and expect that, at any
moment, it will show its "true anti-secularist" colours (Zürcher, E.J., Linden, H., 2004).
Examples from Dutch, European and Turkish contexts reveal a huge gulf between
the broad public debate on "Islam" and Muslim fundamentalism, on the one hand,
and the discussion among European experts and academics on the authoritarian-
secular character of the Turkish state, on the other. The former usually gets mired in
platitudes about Islam, Muslims, violence and fundamentalism, that do scant justice
to the characteristics of Turkish Islam, culture and society. The second debate brings
together two different perspectives: one stressing the partiality of the guarantees that
Turkey offers for the protection of individuals and (religious) minority groups; the
other emphasizing the opportunity afforded for the EU, via Turkish membership, to
build a bridge to the Islamic world. Both debates from parts of wider and more
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