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Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/farewell_ataturk_nfg8dxwogwaJ2rMNTHm6PP
Farewell, Ataturk
(New York Post) Amir Taheri - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, adopted the Latin alphabet, purged Turkish of Arabic words and brought mosques and religious endowments under state control. For decades, Turkey's Islamists tried to undo as much of Ataturk's "reforms" as possible but failed because a majority of Turks would not vote for a party with an Islamist agenda. Erdogan solved that problem by uniting some 20 different Islamist groups into a new party that made no mention of Islam. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) won three successive general elections on a platform of fighting corruption and ensuring economic growth. As for fighting corruption, if one regards favoritism as a form of corruption, the AKP administration emerges as the most corrupt since the fall of the Caliphate. Almost all major new building projects, expected to be worth $100 billion over a decade, have been granted to individuals or corporations controlled by Islamists close to the AKP.