The two Turkeys.

Currently in Turkey, there is, on the one hand, a great mass of people who leave their shoes at the door before entering the house; whose women cover their heads; whose men go out in the street in pajamas; whose teenage boys frequent coffeehouses while girls live under a completely repressive rule; people whose homes are lit with cheap florescent bulbs; who enjoy a type of music somewhere between folk and arabesque; who have perhaps never read a book, never danced, never been to a restaurant as husband and wife, never gone to the theater; who have little education and profess strong religious beliefs.

On the other hand, there are those who went to high school at Robert College, with its girls' lyceum; who have danced at college parties or weddings, who go to movies, who read books, though not a lot; who are relatively well-educated; whose taste in music ranges from pop to classical; whose homes are decorated relatively tastefully; whose women don't cover their heads; who may not permit their teenage girls to date but look the other way when they do; who believe in God but pay little attention to prayers; who drink alcohol in mixed company though they may not know much about wines; who follow newspapers, watch talk shows, feel they are more progressive than the first group and live largely Western lives.

...

The life-styles of these two groups are disconnected.
...

The first group has been despised, discredited, and pushed around throughout the years of the Republic. Now this group has become politically organized. It is large. And it now has the political power to win every election.

The second group is in the minority. And it currently has no chance of ever winning another election.

Read the rest of what Ahmet Altan wrote.