Turkish prime minister says secularism to be retained, but 'liberal' interpretation needed

<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Turkey’s new constitution will retain secularism as a principle, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He played&nbsp;down comments from the parliamentary speaker who triggered a public uproar by calling for a religious national charter.</p><p>Speaker Ismail Kahraman said this week that overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey needed a religious constitution, a proposal at odds with the modern republic’s founding principles. He later said his comments were “personal views” and that the new constitution should guarantee religious freedoms.</p>
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