What are the political trajectories of Pakistan and Turkey? An article in Middle East Times looks at how analyzing Pakistan and Turkey can "shed light on some of the changing political dynamics within Muslim countries." The article compares and contrasts the experiences in the two countries, where "the role of religion in state affairs" has been critical to political development. With respect to Turkey, the authors write, "the role of Islam in public life is still an extremely polarized debate" and they say about Pakistan that the role of religion was "ill-defined at the time of independence." The main reason for the comparison are recent political evolutions concerning the AKP (Justice and Development Party in Turkey) and the PPP (the Pakistan People's Party).
The observation of the authors: "State efforts in both countries to define the role of Islam in politics and society have not gone uncontested." The conclusion: "The two political parties, no matter how flawed they are, need to engage in the political process uninterrupted."
