At-A-Turk

About three years ago I spent some time working in the Maldives, an Islamic republic where alcohol is forbidden and dogs are banned from the entire country. So, on my first night in Turkey, another largely Muslim nation, I was supprised to find myself on a roof terrace admiring the Blue Mosque, sipping a glass of wine, while the puppy on the roof next door howled in harmony with the sounds of the call to prayer. During my time in Turkey I learned that I could have this experience in the Turkish republic thanks to the country's founder and first president, Ataturk.
Apparently Ataturk founded the republic with the vision of a secular Muslum nation with strong ties to the west. While this may seem like somthing of a contradiction in terms, in practice the country runs rather well. In general people seem to have the freedom to be as devout or as casual about religion as they choose. On the streets the result is clearly visible; women covered in burkhas or wearing hijabs brush elbows with women in western dress, and Biblical relics that are also revered by Christians are displayed in Topkapi Palace alongside artifacts of the Muslim faith.
That said, Turkey still has its Muslim priorities. Most of the beer for sale is made by Efes, a tightly held beer monopoly, and all other forms of alchohol are heavly taxed. There seems to be a priority in the entire country for restoring Islamic holy buldings, while letting Greco-Roman and Christian ruins fall to dust. UNESCO and other organizations have stepped in to help restore some of the more prominent Byzantine attractions such as Santa Sophia, this is not the norm in the entire country. In Goreme, an old woman even showed as a medieval church with decaying frescos, which was being unceremoniously used for grain storage. At first, I questioned the wisdom of this attitide, but then I remembered that many European countries from hungary to Spain, have been slow to restore mosques that were converted into churches.
I heard many Turks speak of their loyalty to the principles of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. A hotel owner in Capadoccia told us that he made political decisions based on how much the polititians keep the country "on the way of Ataturk." It is also illegal to speak negatively of Turkey's first president in public. During the month I spent in the country I learned that this law is actually quite intelligent, as it seems to be in place with the aim of catching extremists and other dissenters before they can do violence. From what I observed, most of the country appears to genuinely respect Ataturk.
On our last day, in Turkey, we visited the bedroom where Ataturk died, at the early age of 57. When we asked the cause of his death, the tour guide simply told us that it was "too much smoking and drinking." There was no hint of malice in his voice.