[Originally published in The New York Times]
FOR years, foreign policy discussions have focused on the question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy. But this is becoming passé. In Tunisia and Egypt, Islamists, who were long perceived as opponents of the democratic system, are now promoting and joyfully participating in it. Even the ultra-Orthodox Salafis now have deputies sitting in the Egyptian Parliament, thanks to the ballots that they, until very recently, denounced as heresy.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
“I prayed to God,” wrote Anders Behring Breivik, in his 1,500-page manifesto, to “ensure that the warriors fighting for the preservation of European Christendom prevail.” Soon, he went on his terrorist mission, which ended with the ruthless murder of more than 70 innocent souls.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
Last week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a notable speech at the first gathering of his “party group” in Parliament. Speaking to more than three hundred deputies who were just elected in a very victorious election, he warned them against arrogance. “We received trust from our nation,” he said, referring to political power. “We will carry it modestly and will give it back when the time comes.” His Justice and Development Party, the AKP, in other words, was in power only for a limited time, and had to use it humbly.
[Originally published in Public Discourse]
Predicting history is always a tough, if not risky, business. Hence to a big question such as “How do you think the Middle East will be a decade from now?”, my answer would normally be, “Well, we will see.” And yet I am tempted to agree with Michael Novak’s “not-so-bold prediction” that we will see a much freer and more democratic Muslim Middle East by the year 2020. Let me explain why.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers’ comments]
About a month ago, a group of veiled Turkish women initiated a bold campaign: “No veiled deputy; no vote!” They were calling on political parties, including the incumbent Justice and Development Party, or AKP, to take a revolutionary step in the upcoming elections by offering some candidates who wore the Islamic headscarf. “The gap between Parliament and the society should be filled,” their declaration read, “and this discrimination against veiled women must end.”
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
Turkey’s controversial Ergenekon case, which is about the crimes of the state and the schemes for a military coup, has become more controversial lately. The arrest of two journalists, who are apparently accused of “supporting Ergenekon with propaganda,” seemed unacceptable to many, including me. But such excesses of the case should not blind us to the real crimes and criminals that it tries to unearth.
On the latter front, the case in fact took an important step in the past 10 days: It focused on the anti-Christian hate campaign and the horrendous massacre of three Protestant missionaries in the eastern city of Malatya in 2007.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
I was chatting with a foreign journalist a few days ago, and she said she was desperate to hear “an objective analysis” of what is happening in Turkey. “I am really sorry for you,” I said, in return, “for there are probably no objective Turks in the world.”
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
It is too bad that Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s iron-handed dictator, refused to step down, despite the demands of millions. Yet still some form of “transition” to democracy has begun in that pivotal Arab country. My prayers go for the future of that change and its heroic leaders.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
The stamina of the brave people of Egypt, who are entering their third week of pro-democracy demonstrations, makes it clear: The days of Hosni Mubarak, the country’s long time dictator, are numbered. That’s why the nature of the post-Mubarak era, which is uncertain, is the real big question.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
I was at Istanbul’s Neve Şalom synagogue the other night, in the midst of almost a thousand people. Some were Jews, some were not. But at that particular moment, we were all Jews – for we all shared the sorrow for the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
Click to continue »
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
“What collapsed in Tunisia is the Kemalist model.” So read the headline of Yeni Asya, a Muslim Turkish daily, last Tuesday. And it summed up the doomed fate of the modern Muslim Middle East, and its erratically unfolding future.
What just happened in Tunisia, the smallest of all North African states, is a popular uprising dubbed the “Jasmine Revolution.” The fallen dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who fled the county last week with one-and-a-half tons of gold, had been in power since 1987. Yet the country was no freer before: Ben Ali was just a sequel to Habib Bourguiba, another dictator, who had ruled the country single-handedly since its independence from French colonial rule in 1957. Click to continue »
[Originally published in Hürriyet Daily News]
A controversial film is coming to Turkish movie theaters this weekend: “Hür Adam,” or The Free Man. It is a biographical drama of Said Nursi (1878-1960), a significant character whose life captures some of the most interesting themes of Turkish Islam – and its resistance to Turkey’s self-styled, authoritarian secularism.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Among the hundreds of comments these pages receive everyday, categorically anti-religious comments are quite abundant. Religion, for those commentators, is the source almost all evil in the world.
Faith in God, they say, led to religious wars and inquisitions in the Middle Ages and it leads to terrorism, male-domination or communal bigotry today. Accordingly, unless humanity trashes out all religions – first Islam, but ultimately all of them – we will not be able find peace of mind.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
One of the interesting documents on the WikiLeaks archives is a political assessment by U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson, made in 2006. The U.S. diplomat focused on the debate about the “Islamism” of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and came up with a sober conclusion. “AKP critics can only muster circumstantial evidence of an AKP Islamist agenda,” he noted. “[The party’s] record to date describes a center-right, conservative party with Islamic roots that has modestly advanced … Westernization and modernization.”
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
BRUSSELS – What brought me to the European capital this time is an international conference organized by the Archons.
Never heard of the Archons before? I, at least, had not heard about them until a few months ago, when they invited me to speak at the “Religious Freedom: Turkey’s Bridge to the European Union” conference, which was held this week right at the European Parliament.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
VIENNA – The Austrian capital has stunning buildings, impressive museums and delicious schnitzels. But, besides all that, what really brought me here for a short visit is the booming community of Turkish students who have found not just good education but also religious freedom in this far-away land.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Turkey’s 10 percent national electoral threshold is often mentioned as a flaw in its democracy. This, it is said, disallows the representation of small social groups, especially the Kurds. In fact, the Kurds still find ways to get into the parliament, and they are already represented in major parties such as the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP. But it is still a problem indeed that we have such a high threshold.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
A little more than a year ago, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, made the headlines for saying that he feels “crucified” in Turkey. Many Turks had reacted to this statement then, arguing all was just fine for the Patriarchate. But His All Holiness was right to complain, and Turkey certainly needed to take steps to advance religious freedom – such as the one it took last Sunday.
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
I should have known better. I should have seen that criticizing the arguments of Mr. Burak Bekdil, my column neighbor, could come back to me as an ad hominem attack. It happened before, it happened again. This time, I just got more of it: My true “jihadist” face has been revealed, as my delusional belief in Jewish conspiracies. What does a man want more? Click to continue »
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
My column neighbor Burak Bekdil had an interesting piece yesterday titled, “Would Mr. Erdoğan kindly care for this Muslim woman?” While Mr. Erdoğan probably needs no introduction, “this woman” was Sakineh Mohammedie Ashtiani, an Iranian citizen who reportedly faced a threat of being executed by stoning. Mr. Bekdil was wondering — rhetorically, I guess — if the Turkish prime minister could use his prestige in Tehran to save the poor lady from such an unfortunate end. Besides that, he was also making tongue-in-cheek references to the Quran to imply how upholding that book can lead Muslims to “barbaric” acts such as stoning.
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