New hope for secularization in Turkey

Defeated at the polls, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party leaves open the possibility of a more secular Turkey. The current use of religion as an instrument of power in sport and the army is an example of what could change.

Behind these high walls draped with Turkish flags, at the end of these narrow streets, inside these small shops where many shopkeepers have double-locked the doors, with televisions blaring, the first outbursts of joy are beginning to be felt. In Antalya, on the evening of March 31, it’s already time to celebrate—the municipal election results aren’t final yet, but as the vote count progresses, incumbent mayor Muhittin Böcek is emerging as the winner by a comfortable margin. We are in the heart of the old city, just a stone’s throw from Hadrian’s Gate. The whistles grow louder from down below in the narrow alleys, the