"Belief in Democracy 5/8
Belief in Democracy 5/8
Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary 'Turkije - Het Dilemma van de Democratie': 'Turkey - the dilemma of democracy' that was broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.
The problem is not religion. It is the social-political context in which the religion exists. You can’t change the religion, but you cán change the social-political context. It becomes a very hostile relationship with the 1.2 billion Muslims to tell them: the problem is your religion….
Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist
My response:
"In theory, the EU enlargement policies have already made this question unnecessary. Obey the rules, i.e. Copenhagen Criteria, and join the Union. Interestingly, contemporary problematization of religious difference emerges within the EU. Islamic opposition to EU membership led by Necmettin Erbakan's parties is a well known phenomena but AKP, whose origins go back to his parties, from the outset started a new route towards the EU. 4-5 years ago Turkish public opinion was dominantly pro-EU and I have not heard any challenge related to the religious difference in the public debates. However, Giscard d'Estaing's notorious anti-Turkish statements, September 11 and many other related obstacles triggered the problematization of religious difference.".
