Turkey has recalled its ambassador from the US after the House of Representatives voted in favour of recognising the massacre of Armenians as genocide despite opposition from the Obama administration.
Latest Updates: Turkey RSS
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thabet
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midwinterspring
Pictures from a demonstration against coups in İstanbul on the anniversary of Turkey’s 1997 “postmodern coup.” The signs say, “Never again,” and “Coup leaders should stand trial.”
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aziz
major crisis in Turkey – between the government and the military.
The conflict is part of a power struggle between the military, at the head of the secular state establishment enshrined at the founding of the modern Turkish state, and Mr. Erdogan’s government. Most recently the struggle has taken the form of legal battles over what prosecutors portray as several plots to overthrow the government.
The struggle has caused deep political divides in Turkey, an 87-year-old republic whose military has ousted at least four governments. Rogue members of the military were accused in many extrajudicial killings before the A.K. came to power in 2002.
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johnpi
Turkish prime minister disses Arab world: Muslim leaders’ response to Gaza suffering ‘pitiful.’
He made the remarks when asked to compare the attitude of other Muslim countries to Turkey’s vehement outbursts against Israel over its devastating war on Gaza last year and its ongoing blockade of the impoverished enclave.
“The governments have failed to display the reactions that the world’s Muslims expected from them. And this has been a pitiful aspect of the matter,” Erdogan told reporters.
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johnpi
After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Ankara, many in the West referred to a new Turkish foreign policy called “neo-Ottomanism”, suggesting a revival of the intellectual, political and social influence of the Ottoman Empire, which departed the scene 92 years ago.
That policy was attributed to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his advisor, now foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu. Quickly, however, the term “Ottomanism” began to fade, given that it was difficult to market in countries formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire due to continued indoctrination against Ottomanism by the Arabs over nine decades.
Some, however, continued to stand by the term, including Cuneyt Zapsu, an advisor to the Turkish prime minister, who said: “A new, positive role for Turkey in the world requires a reconciliation with its own past, the overcoming of societal taboos, and a positive new concept of Turkish identity. We are the Ottomans’ successors and should not be ashamed of this.”
Decision-makers in Turkey had once tried to hide their Ottoman past, ashamed of it during the heyday of Kemal Ataturk because it looked backward and was too Islamic for the secular state that was being carefully erected in Turkey. That is now a thing of the past thanks to the steady policy of the AKP, which has been opening up to countries such as Syria and, more recently, Lebanon.
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johnpi
Turkey demands Israeli apology for petty public humiliation of its ambassador as ties worsen.
Turkey summoned Israel’s ambassador to Ankara Tuesday to demand an apology over the treatment of its own envoy to Tel Aviv as a row between the regional allies over a television drama series escalated.
Israel’s ire had been sparked by the broadcast of an episode of the Turkish espionage drama, Valley of the Wolves, which the foreign ministry said depicted “Israel and Jews as baby-snatchers and war criminals.”
….Rather than summoning Celikkol to the ministry as is the norm, Ayalon saw him in his parliamentary office after making him wait in the corridor and telling staff to remove the Turkish flag and refreshments from the table.
“The important thing is that people see that he’s sitting low down and we’re high and that there is one flag,” Israeli television aired Ayalon telling invited photographers and camera crews in Hebrew.
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johnpi
Iran, Turkey rule out ‘military solution’ for Afghanistan.
That’s a commendable change of heart for Iran, considering that 12 years ago it had over a quarter million troops massed on its border with Afghanistan, and the UN and the rest of the world were working hard to head off the perceived threat of an invasion of Afghanistan.
This was taken very seriously at the time, as this Iranian writer communicates:
I don’t want another war, no matter what the excuse. I don’t want us to march on Herat or further afield. No reason that has been stated by the Iranian government is good enough basis for an invasion of Afghanistan. I was devastated when I read the Amnesty International report stating that the 11 Iranian diplomats in Mazar-e-Sharif were killed after the fall of the city. The image of the bodies left in the Consulate for two days without burial shattered me. I thought of the rubble, I thought of the sound of artillery in the background and of rivers of blood. But even this atrocity and the humiliation attendant to it is not a reason good enough for a war. Nor is the Iranian government’s crying foul of the brand of Islam practiced by the Taleban. It is NONE of their business.
That was during the time that the Taliban had taken control of the major city of Herat – predominantly Shiite and Farsi-speaking – and were engaged in their now infamous acts of ‘forced reIslamization.’ There was a concern that if Iran engaged with the Taliban it could draw in Pakistan (Iran had believed the 11 murdered diplomats had the protection of ISI personnel who were traveling as military advisors with the Taliban).
One way for Americans to look at this is that withdrawing troops from Afghanistan to let some other military power step up that is convinced it cannot live with a Taliban government such as Iran or Russia would be just fine.
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thabet
Tomb of Imam al-Ghazali discovered in Iran:
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johnpi
Top 10 good news stories from the Muslim world in the last year, according to Juan Cole.
10. Saudi Arabia opened its first coeducational college campus, the King Abdullah Science and Technology University.
9. Qatar is on track to average 7.5 percent per annum growth for the next few years.
8. A Pew Forum on Religion and Life poll finds that American Muslims are unusual in the degree to which they are integrated into mainstream American society and demonstrate moderate attitudes, condemning religious extremism and violence.
7. The information revolution is making strides in the Arab world.
6. Albania has averaged 10 percent a year growth for each of the last four years, and was the fastest-growing economy in Europe in 2009.
5. The small Gulf oil monarchy of Kuwait took steps toward greater democracy and rule of law.
4. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world at about 230 mn., had successful parliamentary elections in 2009, further consolidating the country’s decade-old democracy.
3. Turkey, which averaged 5.8 percent a year economic growth between 2002 and 2008, was slowed but not devastated by the world’s financial crisis.
2. Stability returned to Lebanon.
1. The greatest political awakening in Iran for 30 years.
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johnpi
“Neseli Hayat” or “A Cheerful Life” is the story of a down-on-his-luck, working class Turk who is hired to work as a mall Santa.
The trouble is he doesn’t really know who Santa Claus is, and needs some very basic lessons.
….Riza then spends much of the film, embarrassed and hiding his job and costume at a posh Istanbul mall glittering with holiday decorations, from his wife and family in a shanty neighborhood where one would be hard pressed to find a single piece of tinsel.
The writer, director and actor who played Riza, Yilmaz Erdogan, says his character is a metaphorical bridge between two worlds in Turkey: wealthier, upper class Turks who live a “Western” lifestyle and have adopted the trappings of Christmas to celebrate the new year, and poorer Turks who have emigrated from the Anatolian heartland to the big city and are more familiar with traditionally “Middle Eastern” customs.
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johnpi
Turkish fearmongering against religion: Play the religions off against each other.
The secular establishment in Turkey has deceived everyone by playing on well-known fears. When non-Muslims demand their rights, the establishment says that if they give some rights to them, these rights might be used and abused by “fundamentalist Islamists.” When Sunni Muslims demanded some rights, they were denied with similar arguments — that the rights they demanded might be used by Alevis and non-Muslims.
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johnpi
A feature segment on the US national news show ‘60 minutes’ tonight looked at the status of the Eastern Orthodox patriarch – the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide – who is located at the headquarters for the worldwide church in Istanbul.
The report left a devastating impression that Muslim Turkey is working to destroy the leadership of the church – or at least undermine the church’s continued existence in that country where it was founded 1700 years ago – by closing the seminary where all future leaders of the church are trained.
The reporter visited an Orthodox monastery that contains a letter that was written by the Prophet Mohammed himself (pbuh) instructing Muslims to protect the Christians in the monastery and to respect their faith throughout the world. The authenticity of the letter is not denied by Muslim scholars.
However, the written story on ‘60 Minutes’ website presents the problem with Turkish authorities as arising from the state’s secularism, rather than Islam.
Bartholomew finds the letter ironic. “I have visited the prime minister, many ministers, submitting our problems…asking to help us,” he tells Simon. But no help has come his way from the Turkish government, which prides itself on being secular and fears any special treatment for Orthodox Christians could lead to inroads by other religions, especially Islam.
Nothing was mentioned in the televised report about secularism. The different impression between the two is so far apart that they cannot both be true. Which is it: Is the Orthodox church being persecuted by intolerant Islam, or by militant secular policy?
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johnpi
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thabet
“State-sponsored incitement”? Is that when a state steals a people’s land, destroys their livelihoods, jails their children, razes their homes, bombs them indiscriminately, and tries to starve them to death?
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aziz
The Karamanli people: a religious tolerance case study in Turkey. Josh notes that secularism has created a strange paradox of identity indeed.
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johnpi
Turkish defence snub worries Israel.
Turkey has said that it banned Israel from an international air exercise due to begin last week because of its offensive in the Gaza Strip last December.
….Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, reported that Israel’s foreign ministry had convened an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Turkey’s decision.
A senior source at the ministry told Haaretz that there were concerns that strategic ties with Turkey were in jeopardy after the Gaza assault of December 2008 and January.
Danny Ayalon, deputy Israeli foreign minister, seemed to be trying to temper tensions on Sunday, calling Turkey a “very important strategic anchor in the Mideast”.
The effort to “temper tensions” had been thrown over the side by this morning when Israel reverted to aggressive form and is now threatening to cut arms sales to Turkey.
Israel is one of Turkey’s main military suppliers and over the years has refurbished a wide range of Turkish equipment, and sold Ankara all manner of electronic equipment in which Israel’s defense industry specializes.
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thabet
‘Worsening relations’ between Turkey and Israel:
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thabet
Turkey and Armenia sign ‘historic accord’:
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, and Edward Nalbandian, his Armenian counterpart signed the Swiss-mediated deal in Zurich on Saturday, after last-minute disagreements delayed the ceremony for three hours.
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aziz
Malaysia and Turkey make for an interesting case study comparison, in terms of how they approach the West.
This piece on Turkey’s approach to religious tolerance is also relevant; would be interested in a similar assessment for Malaysia. Any suggestions?
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thabet
Turks and Armenians in the US disagree on the ongoing rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia:
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aziz
Istanbul was Constantinople, and may yet be again?
(via @mideastyouth)
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johnpi
A Forbes magazine article recently noted disparagingly that Turkey, “the poster-child for an Islam at peace with the 21st century, is 99.8% Muslim” inferring that Turkey is also the poster child for Islamic societies failing to live at ease with social complexity and diversity.
Unfortunately, a new study of prejudice in Turkey completed by Frekans Research has contributed nothing that would refute that comment.
When asked who they would not like as a next-door neighbor, 57 percent said an atheist family, followed by a Jewish family at 42 percent, a Christian family at 35 percent and 18 percent for a family from overseas. Thirteen percent said they would not like to live next door to an Alevi family.
….The participants’ perceptions were largely based on nothing but prejudice because most had no contact with members of these minorities in their lives, according to the study.
One blogger said this survey was evidence against allowing Turkey to join the European Union:
The figures reveal that Turkey which seeks entry into the European Union has yet to grapple with the prejudices in their own homeland which might lead to trouble if immigrants could freely enter their land as members of EU nations.
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thabet
This might be another sign that Qatar wants to offer an alternative to Saudi Arabia as a ‘big player’ in the region: Qatar signs a deal with Turkey.
Turkey has the same energy concerns as the EU: Russia’s virtual monopoly over gas into Europe. Of course, Turkey realises it is a geopolitical-energy hub, and alongside deals with Qatar, the EU, talk of one with Iraq, it has signed one with Russia too.
I’d expect any EU-Turkey-Iran deal on Nabucco, an anti-Russian pipeline project and an effort the US supports at the present time, to upset the anti-Iran hawks. India’s stalling on a pipeline from Iran through Pakistan suggests some pressure from the US. But India (and China, which is busy signing deals in Central Asia) would still have energy needs. Expect the conspiracy theorists to be given more grist for their mills, as the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline is resurrected (at least in the media — the engineering of such a pipeline is another story altogether).
Steve LeVine, however, says this sorts of pipeline politics is no longer valuable to the US; events, such as the Russia-Georgia War, China’s aggressive emergence in Central Asia and developments in technology, having overtaken their policy.
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thabet
Midwinterspring has a post on Islam, the Ottomans and the Turkish republic:
What would have been the impact of Turkey’s modernisation efforts, but with the office of sultan in place as a kind of figurehead? Would that even have been possible?
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thabet
Turkey and Armenia try to normalise ties (much to the annoyance of Turkish opposition groups).
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thabet
Former Danish prime minister says he ‘respects Islam’:
Rasmussen, whose candidacy as Nato chief was initially blocked by Turkey before US president Barack Obama brokered a deal, made the comment at an Iftar meal, an evening dinner traditional during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“Fasting is meant to teach patience, modesty, self-restraint and giving and reaching out to the less fortunate. These are all universal human values that go beyond cultures and religions,” he said at the dinner, attended by Turkish leaders, Hurriyet reported.
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thabet
Aziz has been pondering what countries that become home to al-Qaeda. However, according to Soner Cagaptay, Aziz has overlooked one major country on the brink of actively singing up to this terrorist organisation’s “vision”:
What a load of rubbish.
And why are there scare quotes around “Muslim world” and none around “the West”?
(Via Haroon.)
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johnpi
Last month, Adnan Oktar told Christianist TV personality Joel Richardson (who wrote “AntiChrist: Islam’s awaited Messiah”) that he has been “asked far too many times” if he is the Madhi. Oktar goes into a long-winded discourse on all the ways in which he says he resembles the Madhi (before denying it):
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thabet
Turkey recognises genocide… in China:
“There are atrocities there, hundreds of people have been killed and 1,000 hurt. We have difficulty understanding how China’s leadership can remain a spectator in the face of these events.”
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese aren’t happy.
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plimfix
In postmodernity, real life is often self-satirizing. Here’s a prime example. A new gameshow offers a prize arguably greater than that offered by Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Contestants will ponder whether to believe or not to believe when they pit their godless convictions against the possibilities of a new relationship with the almighty on Penitents Compete (Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor in Turkish). Four spiritual guides from the different religions will seek to convert at least one of the 10 atheists in each programme to their faith.
