Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, an inspirational figure for many Muslims in Southeast Asia, said a possible rejection of Turkey's bid to join the EU will be perceived by Muslims all over the world as a "no" to Islam.

After a fierce political spat with his mentor Mahathir Muhammad in 1998, Ibrahim spent six years in solitary confinement and was only released in 2004. Attending a conference on "Islam and democracy: does it work? Perspectives from South-East Asia" as the keynote speaker in Brussels, Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman, warned the EU about the possible fallout throughout the Muslim world of refusing Turkey.

Known as one of the most prominent intellectuals in the Muslim world, Ibrahim is a great supporter of Turkey and its reform process. He was furious about the election as French president of Nicholas Sarkozy, who is currently trying to block Turkey's possible EU membership EU.

“Sarkozy is both arrogant and ignorant. He is apparently playing to the populist sentiments of being anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant, which are quite strong sentiments in France,” he said.

The Malaysian leader, who was chosen as “Asian of the Year” by Newsweek International in 1998, thinks a possible rejection of Turkey by the EU will be perceived by Muslims all around the world as a rejection of Islam, and warns Brussels to be honest with Ankara. “The EU claims not to be against Islam. But Muslims will clearly perceive it as a rejection of a Muslim country. This will be seen very negatively by the Muslim world,” said Ibrahim, stressing that Muslims will learn the lesson that Europeans are not sincere and that “you can not trust them.”

We are not talking about al-Qaeda

Praising Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its leadership, Ibrahim elaborated on why the Muslim world would take a rejection of Turkey by the EU very negatively. “The message will be that even the most moderate Muslims are not welcome. We are not talking about al- Qaeda; we are talking about the AK Party. The most tolerant Muslim group; even they can not be tolerated by Europe. The message will be that as long as you have a Muslim identity, they will have too many questions to be asked. Europeans will have difficulty with that.”

Ibrahim believes refusing Turkey would be difficult for the EU with so many Eastern European countries now members. “It is first of all geopolitically the right thing [to do]. What explanation can you give to bringing in all the Eastern European countries, but not Turkey? … [Accepting Turley] is the best way to ensure the success of a Muslim country that can be presented as a model,” said Ibrahim.

He closely follows Turkey-EU relations and thinks that Muslims all over the world have a great interest in seeing what is going on between Ankara and Brussels for two reasons. “Firstly, Turkey is very important, one of the leading Muslim countries. It is a successful country. Secondly, to see the attitude of Europeans. They talk about freedom and dignity of men and women and yet we need to see whether they would allow a predominantly Muslim country as a member. They preach they do not discriminate on the basis of color, race or belief. Let’s see,” said Ibrahim

Turkey, of course, can be a model

Touching on the discussion of whether Turkey can be presented as a model to the Muslim world, Ibrahim says that can well be the case. According to him Turkey is a modern, democratic country with a functioning market economy and has shown leadership on many issues that the Islamic world is interested in. “Look at what Turkey is doing in Darfur, what they are doing in Aceh. I met with the governor of Aceh. He singled out Turkish support, calling it one of the best. Clean, no corruption. Do you know why? Because Turks are living in a democratic climate and they are trying to be good Muslims,” he said.

However the militant secularism of Turkey is a concern for many devout Muslims who want to portray Turkey as a model. In particular, the strict ban of headscarves has had many negative reverberations all throughout the Muslim world, particularly in the Arab world. Ibrahim disagrees. Underlining that it was the military, not the free will of people. pushing for the headscarf ban, he said: “One should differentiate between the voice of free Turks and the barrel of the gun. Arabs know this very well.” Dubbing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan one of the most courageous leaders in the Islamic world, Ibrahim thinks Muslims need leaders like him.

“We need leaders like Erdoğan. The Islamic world needs such leaders, who have strong Islamic roots but never claim to represent Muslims or claiming to be a religious party -- a leader who has the courage to be very strong on Iraq, Iran, Hamas and at the same time having ties with Israel,” said Ibrahim.

Commenting on the latest standoff between the military and the AK Party on the election of the next president, Ibrahim praised the Turkish army but called on them to stay away from politics. “They could be the bastion of security. When I was in the government and worked on the Bosnian issue I had the privilege of knowing the Turkish military closely and I have lots of admiration for them, [for their] discipline and resolve. They should be professional soldiers but politics should be run by politicians, not by the dictates of the military,” he said.

Ibrahim is an internationally renowned speaker on the subjects of Islam and democracy, freedom, governance and the need for accountability. He consistently argues that Islam and democracy are compatible. Asked why there are so few democracies in the Muslim world, he says the problem is with the poor governance as the political leadership is not legitimate. “The leadership in the Islamic world does not represent the masses. They are mostly military regimes. Who gave them the mandate to rule those countries? But I am not that pessimistic. The most populous Muslim country, Indonesia, is a democracy. Muslims participate in the democratic process in India, which has the world’s second-largest Muslim population. Turkey, which is considered to be one of the most important and leading countries, is a democracy although it is somewhat under threat now. In the Middle East Iran was a democracy under Musaddak. He was toppled by the CIA and British intelligence. Iraq was close to democracy until Saddam. Even Egypt under King Farouk prior to the coup was navigating toward democratic elections. It is only Western-trained military leaders -- British or US trained -- that finally stage a coup” he said.
West is contradictory in its support for democracy in the Muslim world

Ibrahim criticizes the West in its so-called push for democracy in the Muslim world and called on Muslims to support freedom and prioritize it. “As a Muslim my duty is to support very strongly the freedom of the individual. Clearly the high objective of Shariah is full freedom for the individual. Why the Prophet struggled against the cahiliyye of Kureysh. He fought for freedom. Not to be servant of man, money or power but the servant of God,” Ibrahim said.

Anwar Ibrahim  : Monday, June 25 2007 @ 03:23 PM Central Daylight Time

Source : http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20070625152340366