Some Arab students looked down on the teacher as a secular Turk.

Many secular Turks, particularly women, fear that these steps could be a prelude to fundamentalist intimidation.

Over the last few months, the question of religious education had become a symbolic rallying point for both religious and secular Turks.

It is precisely the open question of religion's role in society that makes secular Turks so uncomfortable.

Looking at such gains, secular Turks wonder why anyone would challenge a successful formula.

The party's initiatives, such as relaxing restrictions on religious displays in public places, have made many secular Turks uneasy.

The party's major shortcoming has been that it failed to listen to secular Turks or to take their concerns seriously, political analysts said.

Many secular Turks, evidently, think the time has come to say no.

Even many secular Turks, fed up with their own parties, are ready to give Welfare a chance.

For many secular Turks, that word "imitation" has a disagreeable resonance.