Its saddening to see how the large secular part of the population that has no desire to live in an Islamic state has little recourse but to keep quiet and hope nobody points a finger in their direction.
The USA and Europe should welcome them. The American Century was in many ways built on brain drain from totalitarian regimes. When Germany went insane we got quite a bit of the cream of the crop of German intellectuals including many of history's greatest physicists, the Bauhaus School of design, etc.
You're assuming a country that broken won't also prevent emigration, and that everyone who wants to leave has the means to leave.
Preventing emigration is rare for non-Soviet-descended governments, even the most authoritarian ones. Most governments are pretty happy when dissidents leave.
> has the means to leave
Not everyone, but as the Syrian and Afghan refugees that were formerly pouring out of Turkey illustrate, if you are in decent health, have 2 feet and have a way of acquiring sustenance along your way, you don't need much means to leave. Most people are kept back by attachments to community and property, not a lack of means.
Aye, there's the rub...
I'm actually thinking to apply for a citizenship - I think I may be eligible after 7 years here.
My point is, yes, leaving is the right thing for most of the people who don't feel like they belong there.
Also, I think that will also help Turkey too. A very large group of like-minded people will (I guess) live up to their choices and they become very successful and everyone is happy or it all crashes and burns, hopefully leading to a story about successful recovery like Germany.
Maybe, but I'm not sure I see it likely with the current political mood that a wave of political refugees from an advancing Islamist movement in a country in that region will be welcomed with open arms in the USA. Just, you know, judging from recent history.