Perhaps we should thank the speaker!

Parliament Speaker ?smail Kahraman has understandably caused outrage among modern Turks by suggesting the new Turkish constitution should be stripped of all references to secularism and be based on religious values instead.

His remark also disturbed his own Justice and Development Party (AKP) government because it appears to hint at what really lies in the AKP's heart.

When combined with his support for President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's push to convert Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential one, Kahraman appears to be calling for an Islamic dictatorship.

Kahraman has also provided vindication for those who believe that Erdo?an's and the AKP's outlook is ultimately based on what in Latin is referred to as "Cuius regio, eius religio," which basically means "whatever the leader's religion is, so should the religion of the land be."

It is precisely to prevent this that the founding fathers of the Turkish Republic underscored the importance of secularism. Without secularism you have what amounts to a theocracy based on an exclusive religious outlook which predominates over all other faiths and beliefs. 

Many believe, rightly or wrongly, this is what Erdo?an and his Islamist supporters would really like to see in this country. Some of the steps the AKP has taken since assuming power also reinforces this belief. 

Yet Erdo?an knows that he would be rowing in very dangerous waters if he were to openly push this line.

Instead he and his supporters have veered towards the argument that they are not against secularism per se, but the Jacobin and undemocratic manner in which it was implemented in Turkey in the past.

They may have an argument there, but Kahraman does not have an argument he can...