My wife and I were invited October 29^th to the ninety first anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Turkey. The celebration held at the luxurious Hyatt Hotel in Amman was attended by hundreds of Turks residing in Jordan along with the diplomatic corps and friends of the republic of Turkey. Attendees enjoyed famous Turkish foods along with beer, wine as well as non alcoholic drinks. This picture differs diametrically from the current stereotype of Turkey among political activists and so called experts who paint Turkey as an example of how a moderate political Islam can rule.   Modern Turkey which was established by Mustapha Kemal Ataturk is a secular country built on the concept of separating politics from religion even though 99% of Turkish citizens are Muslims.  Despite the fact that the current president and former prime minister is issuing regular statements in favor of Islamic movements in Palestine and Egypt, the constitutional, legal and daily life in Turkey is far from the idea that it is adopting Islam as a model for governance.   Ataturk’s principles which according to the official website of the republic are the basis of the country are: Democracy, secularism, gender equality, religious freedom, free mixed education, peace at home and peace abroad, against geographical expansion.   These principles were codified in a constitution that doesn’t name the country’s religion. Article one talk about Turkey’s form of government as a “republic. ARTICLE 2 states “The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social state governed by rule of law, within the notions of public peace, national solidarity and justice, respecting human rights, loyal to the nationalism of Atatürk.”   In order to protect from any future change, the fourth article states clearly that articles one and two of the constitution that deal with the form of government and its basic principles can’t be changed.   Naturally there are many problems in governing the modern republic of Turkey among them the freedom of expression and press and the hegemonic attempts by the government to control the media.   Turkish officials reject international charges that there prisons are full of journalists saying that they are “Kurdish terrorists,” who use journalism for their political goals. As to the hegemony attack, there are no credible answers.   The separation of religion from politics is a major principle of modern Turkey. Religion, any religion, is based on the belief of the absolute non negotiable truth. For religious people they are carrying out God’s will on earth. On the other hand politics is the art of the possible. Therefore any attempt to use religion for political purposes will surely fail since you can’t negotiate with those who claim to know God’s will. And in such cases, politicians become a robot that votes based on the desires of their religious leaders who has a monopoly on translating to fellow mortals God’s wishes.   Europe learned this lesson through the reformation and enlightenment periods centuries ago. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk learned from these experiences even though he was in opposition to most of Europe in the first world war.   Ninety one years have passed and Istanbul is still holding on to its secularism even though it is being challenges to find the balance with religion in daily lives of its citizens. Nevertheless, the basic tenant of secularism of separating religion from the state continue to be the basis of the modern Turkish Republic and the source of its success not any other reasons. .