ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's civilian and military leaders have debated measures to further curb religious education and to tighten controls over Islamic businesses, in an apparent move to expand the campaign against political Islam.
The National Security Council, which is made up of top generals and political leaders, discussed the topic in a Dec. 28 meeting to push parliament on measures to curb the rise of political Islam - perceived as one of the greatest threats to the officially secular nation, private CNN-Turk and NTV televisions reported on Wednesday.
The measures, such as controlling activities of Islamic businesses suspected of funding Islamic groups and imposing new bans on Islamic schooling, are likely to flare up tension between the secular establishment and Islamic circles.
``We are on the verge of implementation of practices that could lead to polarization,'' Ali Yasar Saribay, a political analyst at the Uludag University, told private NTV television. ``Adopting tough measures would not serve to the good of democracy.''
Most Security Council decisions are not announced and officials were not available to comment.
While most Turks are Muslims, the government is staunchly secular and has striven for years to reduce the clout of Islamic political groups.
The powerful military pressured the government to close down religious secondary schools and Koranic courses in 1998, one year after the army forced out an Islamic government out of power.