Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted governing party says it is on a mission: to prove that Islam is compatible with democracy.
So, Turkey appears to be an ideal host for a two-day summit that began Tuesday at which political and civil leaders from Muslim countries are addressing the struggle for democracy in the Islamic world. Yet, even within Turkey the idea of combining democracy and Islam is a tense issue.
Erdogan's push has been hailed by some in the West who are looking for an example of an overwhelmingly Muslim country that has embraced democracy. But others in Turkey fear that heightened Islamic sentiment in the government could weaken the country's staunch official secularism.
"I do not claim, of course, that Turkey's experience is a model that can be implemented identically in all other Muslim societies," Erdogan said in a speech in Washington earlier this year. "However, the Turkish experience does have a substance which can serve as a source of inspiration for other Muslim societies, other Muslim peoples."
Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher is participating in the congress, as are representatives from a dozen other countries, such as Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Bahrain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, representatives of Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose human rights records have been criticized by the United States, did not come.
Cemil Cicek, Turkey's justice minister, criticized those who link terrorism with Islam.
"Let me clearly state that (terrorism) has nothing to do with the essence of Islam," he said at the opening of the conference. But he added: "Democracy, human rights and rule of law are very urgent needs for the Islamic community."
The Congress of Democrats from the Islamic World comes amid a U.S. push for reforms in the Middle East, as well as debate over the role of religion in political life in Islamic countries and concerns about the prospects for democracy in countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting is sponsored by the U.N. Development Program and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which is headed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is attending.
"It was a conscious choice to hold this meeting in Turkey," said Abdel Karim al-Iryani, a former prime minister of Yemen, who is attending the congress. "The (Turkish) Islamic movement embraced the secular state. This new experience in Turkey is a model for all Muslim countries."
But not everyone is convinced. Critics point out that the Justice and Development Party was founded by former members of a banned pro-Islamic party. They also say the United States enjoyed warmer ties with previous governments that stuck to hardline secularism.
Since winning elections in 2002, the Justice party has broadened freedom of expression, trimmed the military's influence in politics, and worked to improve Turkey's much criticized human rights record. The party says it does not have an Islamic agenda and its main goal is to further Turkey's aim of European Union membership.
At the same time, the Justice party has portrayed itself as an inspiration for the other Muslim countries.
At an Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting last year in Malaysia, Gul appealed for reforms in the Islamic world by referring to Turkey's experience.
"We had put in front of us a mission to accomplish: We were to prove that a Muslim society is capable of changing and renovating itself, attaining contemporary standards, while preserving its values, traditions and identity," Gul said.