Leading article: A surprising source of progressive achievement

In recent years, Turkey has become perhaps the best counter-argument to the idea that liberal democracy and Islam are incompatible. The re-election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the weekend is an encouraging sign that this will remain the case.

The AKP has its roots in political Islam, but it has not been a backward force since winning power in 2002. On the contrary, the party's economic reforms have delivered impressive growth, and Turkey attracted record foreign investment last year. Moreover, the AKP has not attempted to undermine Turkey's secular constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.

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The AKP has actually been a good deal more progressive than the nationalist opposition and the military, which both claim to be the true guardians of the secular constitution handed down by Turkey's celebrated founder, Kemal Ataturk. Nationalists have been at the forefront of attempts to limit freedom of expression in Turkey by urging prosecutions against authors who "insult Turkishness". And the military establishment has been linked with the murderer of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

But not all progressives are enthused by the AKP's sweeping victory. Some liberal Turks are worried that a new mandate will embolden the zealous elements within the government to push for a more Islamist agenda, such as an Iranian-style requirement on women to wear the headscarf. An early test will be whom the AKP proposes for the office of President. An attempt by the AKP to get the Foreign Minister, Abdulla Gul, a pious Muslim whose wife wears the headscarf, into the presidential office resulted in constitutional deadlock and sparked large pro-secular demonstrations in April.

We should take the concerns of Turkish liberals seriously. But there is no reason to believe the AKP is about to swerve into hardline Islamism. And it is worth noting that the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, used his post-election speech yesterday to reaffirm his pledge to respect Turkey's secular principles.

Perhaps a more pressing concern for those concerned with civil rights is the state of relations with the Kurdish minority in the east. There was some ominous sabre-rattling during the election campaign from Mr Erdogan, including a threat to invade Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq to root out separatists operating in the area.

But the secularist opposition and the military are far keener on aggressive action against the Kurds than the government. And the new representation of independent Kurdish representatives in the parliament, another result of this election, should act as a brake on any precipitate military action.

The other great achievement of the AKP is that it has pushed Turkey down the road towards European Union membership. Many of the reforms it has enacted have been with this end in mind. As the Foreign Secretary David Miliband pointed out yesterday, it is in Europe's interests to encourage Turkey further in this direction. Insults and an attitude of rejectionism (France and Austria have been particular offenders in this respect) merely embolden the hardline nationalists within Turkey. The next EU report on Turkey's progress towards membership is due in November. Europe's leaders should take this opportunity to re-iterate to Turkey that the door to membership remains open.

If Turkey, this historic and geographical link between Europe and the Middle East, is able to plot a middle course between aggressive secularism and religious illiberalism, it will be a triumph not just for Turks, but for democrats everywhere.