Gov't's Alevi initiative; never ending turban controversy; TR-US relations and more...
Turkey Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (4th L sitting) attends a fast-breaking dinner in Ankara January 11, 2008. Erdogan tried on Friday to reassure Turkey's Alevi Muslim minority, who often complain of official discrimination, that their rights are fully respected and that they are a valued part of the nation.
REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Erkan's note: One angle I might be interested in Alevi initiative is that the State might start codification of Alevism. Even if the government wants to do something positive for Alevi constituencies, the problem is to find out what to do. Unlike Sunnism, Alevism is unorthodox, more based on oral traditions and too difficult to homogenize at this state. In the coming days, there might be some moves towards making Alevism a codified religious practice. Just an idea...
Alevis’ dilemma
As part of efforts to eliminate distrust of the state among the country’s Alevi community, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended an Alevi fast-breaking dinner last week where he sought to reassure the Alevis that their rights are fully respected and that they are a valued part of the nation.Yusuf Kanlı: Turban headache must be resolved
While we may criticize Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's habit of stirring heated debates at home on some very important issues whenever he steps on some foreign land, we have to concede that the controversy over turban or the Islamic headgear must be resolved and the nation should no longer be left a hostage to that issue.Erdoğan declared in Madrid that while it is the individual religious right of women wishing to cover their heads to do so, but even if the turban was considered a political symbol it should still not be banned because there cannot be a ban on symbols in a democracy. Rather than what the prime minister wanted to say, that declaration is a manifestation by theConstitutional fix nears on headscarf ban
Turkey's long-debated headscarf ban in universities will be solved with a one-sentence clause to be inserted in the draft constitution upon instructions from the prime minister, the TurkishERDOGAN INADVERTENTLY REIGNITES HEADSCARF DEBATE - Eurasia Daily Monitor
2003 crisis over; Turkey, US looking to 2008 hopefulLY
Jamestown Turkey’s Other War on Terrorism
İlnur Çevik Turkish diplomatic offensive on all fronts
EDM TURKISH ALEVIS SPURN OVERTURES FROM AKP
TURKISH ALEVIS SPURN OVERTURES FROM AKP - Eurasia Daily Monitor
Gul to Al-Hayat: Bush Has To Assume The Establishment Of The Palestinian State Raghida Dergham
Washington Times Talking Turkey (By Tulin Daloglu)Was Dink's murderer alone?
The murderer of Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins, journalist and editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos, may not have been alone before and after the murder, the daily Milliyet reportedSuspects in Malatya massacre stand trial
The suspects in the murder of three Christians in Zirve Publishing House in the southeastern province of Malatya on April 18, 2007 were taken to court for the second time yesterday. The fiveWhy does Turkey want to change its foreign policy?
Turkish foreign policy has been undergoing a major change in recent years. However, it is obvious that this activity is mostly not understood the way it should be, because instead of asking a simple but fundamental question like "What are the foreign-policy makers of Turkey trying to do?" there are attempts to make out the new understanding by using pre-packaged models.Article 301 and vegetable matters
İstanbul is a city expert at scrubbing away the traces of even its recent past. Even in the 1960s, the almost inner city neighborhoods along what is now the metro route from the airport were rural settlements.Turkey’s headscarf deadlock
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent suggestion that even if the Islamic headscarf was indeed a “political symbol” as some claim, there was still no reason to ban it has re-launched the never-ending headscarf debates in Turkey.Is Erdoğan-Gül conflict possible?
Many of us used to wonder when a conflict would break out between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül. Yesterday I paid a visit to a politician who is known for his closeness to them.Flag made with blood
Instead of making a flag using the blood of 20 youths who pricked their fingers with a needle for that purpose, you can buy a unit of blood from the Blood Center of the Turkish Red Crescent and use it as dye to make a flag.Is the Alevi problem being resolved?
On his way to Madrid to attend the Alliance of Civilizations Forum on Sunday night, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan showed once again that he continued to back his words at the fast-breaking dinner organized by Alevis.Without deception and blood
When several young boys and young girls make a flag using the blood they extract from their wrists and send it to you with youthful enthusiasm, anger and devotion, you cannot approve what they’ve done, saying, “You did well, kids.”Reasons behind the Alevi iftar boycott
The Alevi iftar attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has divided the Alevi community into two over whether or not they should trust the government’s sincerity about its plans for Alevis.Before the car stops
What is the problem with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)? Why have they been insistently reducing the Kurdish issue to mere terrorism or military operations? Why does it not want to solve it?Background of fears
A recent Alevi fast-breaking dinner revealed chronic fears and opportunities to overcome these fears.Political solution
A long-forgotten discourse has been revived following the recent official visit by President Abdullah Gül to Washington: Political action is required to resolve the Kurdish question.What do ultranationalists have to say about this?
We do not transfer technology, we only buy it when it becomes sellable. However, we have to create technology. For this, emphasis on research and development is needed, money is needed, qualified personnel are needed.The Alevi Inquisition
Mustafa AKYOLFor the uninitiated foreigner, it might be hard to get who the Alevis are. In a nutshell, they are an unorthodox religious group in Turkey whose folkloric faith seems to be a combination of Shiite Islam and pre-Islamic Turkish pagan myths. Recently the term "liberalism" has been often used to describe them. "The Alevi denomination," argued journalist Devrim Sevimay in a recent Milliyet piece translated and published by the Turkish Daily News, "is a distinct and liberal movement in Islam." Now, if you think that liberalism has something to do with being lax on religious rules, that will be a fair definition. Alevis hardly follow the detailed religious law found in mainstream (Sunni or Shiite) Islam. In their religious rituals, they don't recite the Koran or bow down toward Mecca. Instead, they play saz, the Turkish guitar, and dance men and women, all together. A Californian Buddhist could comfortably join them....
