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Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
The 84-year-old Turkish politician, who passed away last Sunday, had a fascinating story to tell — and to remember.
Necmettin Erbakan, whose first name literally means “the Star of Religion,” was undoubtedly the star of Turkey’s political Islam, which he began to build in the late ’60s. Since then, he founded five subsequent political parties, four of which were closed by the secular state for not being secular enough. He suffered three military coups and a prison term, not to mention many court cases and political threats.
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Posted in Fundamentalism (Islamic), Islam & Muslims, Unveiling Turkey | No Responses »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
The Arab Spring, which began in Tunis and continued with Egypt, is spreading in a perfect domino effect. Of course, every Arab country has its own conditions, and its unique form of dictatorship. Some dictators are more rational, even reasonable, whereas some, such Libya’s Col. Gadhafi, are absolute lunatics. That’s one reason, along with the lack of strong political organizations and civil society in Libya, which has made the revolt in this country very chaotic and bloody.
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Posted in Change within Islam, Fundamentalism (Islamic), Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | No Responses »
Friday, February 18th, 2011
[Original published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
MECCA – The Kaabah, the holiest shrine of Islam, is a breathtaking place – even through secular eyes. Millions of Muslims flock here every year to venerate this ancient building, which they believe to be the world’s first monotheist temple built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
The Kaabah is most crowded during the Hajj, with millions of pilgrims, but it is filled with thousands of worshippers at any given moment.
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Posted in Change within Islam, Faith Matters, Fundamentalism (Islamic), Highly Recommended, Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | 2 Responses »
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
[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.
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Posted in Change within Islam, Fundamentalism (Secular), Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | 1 Response »
Friday, February 4th, 2011
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
The uprising in Egypt against the country’s decades-old dictatorship is truly historic. The almost 2 million people who rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and elsewhere, are certainly on the right side of history. They demand freedom, democracy and bread – to which they have every right.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan stood on the right side of history as well, with his slightly belated yet still-inspiring speech of last Tuesday. Calling on Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak to “listen to the wishes of the people,” and respect their yearning for liberty, Erdoğan gave the right message.
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Posted in Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | No Responses »
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News, with readers' comments]
It began in Tunis, with the unexpected fall of the country’s 25-year dictator. Then, in a perfect domino effect, came Egypt. The country’s oppressed masses raided the streets, protesting Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. That “pharoah” is still in office, but he probably won’t be able to hold onto power for much longer.
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Posted in Fundamentalism (Islamic), Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | 4 Responses »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
[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.
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Posted in Fundamentalism (Islamic), Fundamentalism (Secular), Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East, Rethinking The West | 1 Response »
Friday, January 21st, 2011
[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 »
Posted in Change within Islam, Fundamentalism (Secular), Highly Recommended, Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | 6 Responses »
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
Two interesting controversies have swamped the Turkish media in the past few days, and both have tested the tolerance of the conservative camp.
The first one was about a new TV series named “The Magnificent Century.” It is a drama about the inner life of Süleyman the Magnificent, who ruled the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century, the zenith of its power. The drama’s trailer included scenes showing the sultan drinking wine and having intimate moments with his significant other, the all-attractive Hürrem. (Some even took a hint of a homosexual relationship, which did not turn out to be the case.)
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Posted in Change within Islam, Faith Matters, Fundamentalism (Islamic), Islam & Muslims, Unveiling Turkey | 5 Responses »
Friday, November 12th, 2010
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
I hope I did not bring any bad luck to Dr. Ali Bardakoğlu, who resigned from Turkey’s top religious post the other day. For only three months ago, I had defined him as “the best opinion leader in contemporary Turkey.” I also noted: “The erudite theologian does not only represent an Islam with a smiling face. He also defends religious freedom for all.”
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Posted in Islam & Muslims, Unveiling Turkey | No Responses »
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
In the past century, Turkey was globally famous for its tasty delights and steamy baths. In the recent years, though, it has become also famed for its growing political role in the world.
This status that makes many Turks proud, but it also raises a lot of criticism and concern. Unfortunately, it even provokes a new trend of Turkey-bashing in the West, and especially in the United States. In his recent column, which presented a quite fair and sensible evaluation of Turkish foreign policy, Roger Cohen of the New York Times was pointing out to that problem. In the U.S. Congress, Cohen noted, now there is even a “Turkey-equals-Iran-lover-and-Israel-hater surge.”
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Posted in Islam & Muslims, Unveiling Turkey | 4 Responses »
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
BEIRUT – Anybody old enough to recall the 1980s would probably also recall the horrific fate of Sabra and Shatilla. These two adjacent Palestinian camps just outside of Beirut had become the setting of the massacre of more than two thousand people in September 1982. Not just men but women and children were mercilessly slaughtered by the Christian Maronite militias, while their Israeli allies watched uncaringly at arm’s length. It was a truly dark episode for mankind.
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Posted in Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East | 3 Responses »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News]
There are many things I love about America – from maple-syrup-soaked pancakes to noisy rock bands. I even like its frantically air-conditioned spaces that almost freeze you to death, or its drinks that have more ice than liquid. But these days, I am a little put off by the hype that some Americans have raised around the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”
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Posted in Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The West | 1 Response »
Friday, July 16th, 2010
[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 »
Posted in Fundamentalism (Secular), Islam & Muslims, Unveiling Turkey | 1 Response »
Friday, July 9th, 2010
[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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Posted in Change within Islam, Faith Matters, Fundamentalism (Secular), Highly Recommended, Islam & Muslims, Rethinking The East, Unveiling Turkey | 4 Responses »
