The Turkish military’s “memorandum” of April 27, the decision by the Constitutional Court as well as the calculated campaign of pressure against the AK Party’s presidential candidate evidenced once again that Turkey is greatly distanced from a societal consensus.

Last month I was in Washington sitting on a panel discussing Turkish domestic policy. One of the speakers noted that Turkey is divided between secularists and Islamists.

I am currently in Brussels for a high-level transatlantic event called the Brussels Forum. Three-hundred top officials in the transatlantic community are debating the future of this relationship.

Yesterday was an historic day for our democracy. Turkey’s popular Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül was announced as the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) candidate for the presidency.