There is nowhere in the world where the victory of a moderate Islamic party is more important for us than in the Middle East. Arab columnists have written tens of opinions calling for Islamists to learn from the lessons of Erdogan and his party.
The idea that European (at least half of Turkey is geographically in Europe) parties use religion, whether directly -- such as the Christian Democrats -- or indirectly -- such as Turkey's AK party -- is clearly different from the attempts by hardline Islamists to abuse religion within a political structure. The first lesson these European parties teach is that Islamists must accept and play by democratic rules. They must accept differences without trying to crush them and follow local, regional and international rules of the political game.
Once we have Islamic parties who agree to share power and rule without attempting to deny the existence of the other, we will be on the proper path. This means that Islamists must give preeminence to some of the ideals of Islam: justice, equity and respect of human beings, and guard against attempting to rule in the 21st century by ramming through the narrower ideas of religious guidelines from the 6th century. Today’s politics requires careful thought and the ability to reach consensus among all citizens rather than just the religiously committed.
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