A pedestrian street in Istanbul, where women in miniskirts and head scarves mingle. Turkey’s traditional secularism is
under pressure.
Posted on 11/28/2006 4:50:20 AM PST by King of Florida
A pedestrian street in Istanbul, where women in miniskirts and head scarves mingle. Turkey’s traditional secularism is
under pressure.
ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 27 — A short 24 hours before a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to this Muslim country, its prime minister finally agreed to meet him publicly. The venue: the airport, on the Turkish leader’s way out of town.
The elaborate, last-minute choreography pointed to the deep divide that has festered within Turkish society since the foundation of the modern state. Should Turkey face eastward, toward its Muslim neighbors, or westward, toward Europe?
In the past five years, Muslims here have repeatedly felt betrayed by the West. The United States began holding Muslims without charge at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; it invaded Iraq and abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Turkey’s hopes of entering the European Union have dimmed. The pope made a speech citing criticism of Islam.
Turkey — a democratic Muslim country with a rigidly secular state — is at a pivot point. It is trying to navigate between the forces that want to pull it closer to Islam and the institutions that safeguard its secularism. Turkey’s pro-Islamic government is constrained by rules dictating secularism established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s revered founder.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
the institutions that safeguard its secularism.Primarily the military, according to their constitution.
-Eric
Turkey has wanted to be part of Europe for decades, through being part of their common market, and part of the political organizations of Europe. To me, the West has blown a chance to have a bridge to the Middle East. It is time to strengthen the bonds with this secular society before it moves the opposite direction.
When I was in Istanbul (our first stop on a cruise) back in 1998, our Western dressed tour guide was concerned that in upcoming parliamentary elections, ultra conservative candidates might take over and she would be required to adopt a more rigid lifestyle. This was of course well before 9/11 and I don't think any of us tourists had any comprehension of how terrible this would have been for our guide and others who are more openly western. Turkey is a beautiful country, rich in history. and at that time the people were more than friendly. I have no illusions that what they wanted was our tourist dollars, not really our presence. But it would pain me to see this country be taken over by the Islamofascists.
From what I understand the streets of Damascus, Syria only 10 years ago saw few women wearing headscarfs. However, now the trend is for young, educated women to wear traditional Islamic clothing and there is a return to Islamic values.
Too bad Christianity has been hijacked by secularism. The average clergyman today would have been run out on a rail 100 years ago -- for saying it's okay to be a Christian and use birth control, get a divorce, etc.
I don't know about that, but she isn't properly following behind the man next to her......
I don't think it's the "allure" that bringing them, it's the dread fear of being kidnapped, tortured, and beheaded if they don't "turn back" to the muslim faith.
She may be facing away from you in the photo, but I think the chick in the miniskirt turned west a long time ago.
"The United States began holding Muslims without charge at Guantánamo Bay"
Sure. We just picked up random moo's of the streets. NOT terrorists in arms fighting our forces in Afghanistan etc..
/sarc
not to mention Captialism!
I tuned into one of the religious channels on cable the other day cause they advertised "The Shoes of the Fisherman" ( a fabulous movie about the papacy imho) and what was on there?
A solid half hour of what would otherwise be termed an infomercial for a "prayer cloth".
This dork "blesses" a blanket and they ahve all kinds of people telling how their baby sleeps better with it placed under their sheet etc.
Most terrible conartists I've seen in a long time.
Then they had tammy faye bakker on a bit later.
THAT'S what religion is coming to be in america.
This is article is a joke. So what are they trying to tell us, that Turkey is the more moderate Muslim country out there? Or that Turks are a mix of the peoples (Greeks, Albanians, Slavs, Romanians, Armenians, Bulgarians, etc. etc.) the Ottomans conquered thousands of years ago? Or that Turkish people wear Western clothes and women are not covered in Burkas? Duh! Like we didn't know ALL that already. The problem with Turkey, aside from some doing everything in their power make the country 100% Muslim, is in recent years ultra fanatic muslims with the thinking mentality of the Gray Wolves have been gaining powerful political positions.
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