We drew to a close a year's span that has started with the 9-11 tragedy last year and continued on with the anthrax scare, developed with prospects of war with Iraq and several threats directed at our home, the United States of America. Those of us living in the Capital region have survived the incredibly tense three weeks in October when our faith in humanity was again tested bitterly with the sniper nightmare.

And throughout all this we were also busy fighting off the grenades and sharp knives of all sizes shot in our direction by various anti-Turkish lobbies that are ceaselessly trying to re-write history by legislative fiat, regardless of the damage they are delivering to American national interests. We have to go to our offices, attend to our homes, earn a living, raise our children, pay our taxes, all honorable tasks that we perform without fail as proud members of this great and just society while fending off all the undeserved threats and accusations we are subjected to.

But just as coal turns into diamond under pressure, our resilient community is reacting to these forces by getting organized like never before. Our community, under the leadership of grassroots organizations like the ATAA, is breaking new grounds in multiple fronts, ranging from our fund-raising capacity to training of our next generation. Ten years from today many of us might be actually thankful to all our adversaries for helping us get into top shape.

But the challenges that we have to cope with are not only limited to domestic affairs. The November 3 general election that Turkey has just left behind was followed by all Turkish-Americans with great interest. The overwhelming victory of AKP (Justice and Development Party) led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has deep-roots in Islamist politics, poses different questions for many of us.

As American citizens of Turkish descent, we all wish for a stronger Turkish-American friendship and alliance. Ahead is the EU summit when Turkey's membership will again be a hot issue of contention. Also ahead are the clouds of war gathering over Iraq. Ankara cannot survive the EU process without Washington continuing to apply its strong shoulder to EU's heavy iron doors, just like Washington cannot wage a US-led operation in that part of the world without Ankara's full logistic support and cooperation. Turkish textiles and American software criss-cross the Atlantic every day. Turkish students and American tourists are discovering the wonders of both countries on an expanding scale every year. The ties that bind our two nations, two NATO allies, are many in number, strong in kind.

So how will an AKP government impact our expectations and Turkish-US relations in these perilous times of global uncertainty? Will there emerge an unprecedented synthesis of Islam and Democracy in a secular Turkey that would be a role model for all the other countries of the world, just like Atatürk's Turkey was? Will our two countries sail through the dire straits of our times without any further mishaps? As the coal of our past turns into the diamond of future, the hopes and prayers of our burgeoning community are pointed in that direction.

The Turkish Times