|
|
|
|
Map of Europe Map of Middle East |
CIAO DATE: 07/04
Spring 2004 (Volume 3, Number 1)
The Quest of Islamic Migrants and of Turkey to Become European by Bassam Tibi
This article argues that successful integration of Muslim immigrants in Europe is the ticket for Turkey's accession to the European Union. European attitudes and policies as well as the tendencies of the Muslim community in Europe are analyzed and a road map for Euro-Islamic integration is advocated. The critical importance of secularism in Europe is underlined and means to bridge the civilizations are explored.
The Structure, Mission and Social Function of the Directorate of Religious Affairs by Ali Bardakog˘lu
This essay focuses on several aspects of the state-religion relations in Turkey. The author stresses that the Directorate of Religious Affairs does not contradict secularism. He points out that the concept of ‘sound knowledge’ refers to a struggle against superstitions, errors, ignorance, injustice, and religious abuse. He concludes by stating that the Directorate of Religious Affairs has adopted the goal of embracing all people regardless of their religion.
Political Islam, Governance and Democracy by Ali R. Abootalebi
Islam remains a central cultural and sociopolitical force throughout the Islamic world. The success of political Islam, though varying in different Muslim countries, depends largely on its advocates’ abilities to provide pragmatic solutions to real problems facing developing Muslim countries. Islam and democracy can coexist if democratic principles, procedures, and organization are accepted as tools necessary for the resolution of differences in values, beliefs and methods among the elites and between the state and society. Islamic leaders must organize themselves and provide the institutional basis for Islam to participate in competitive and orderly politics.
On The Compatibility Of Islam And Democracy by Reha Keskintepe
Misunderstandings among societies and cultures are still common. The West’s view of Islam fails to see the compatibility of democracy and Muslim societies. Terrorism, too easily associated with Islam, further blurs the picture. Underdevelopment is not the fate of Muslim societies. Prosperity, democracy and good governance can exist. Freer and more participatory structures are needed to benefit from human assets. The Turkish experience has shown that democracy and Islam are compatible and the West can contribute to this. Yet all countries have to find their own solutions,
Non-Muslim Minorities In Turkey: Progress And Challenges On The Road To EU Accession by Gareth Jenkins
Turkey’s progress towards opening official accession negotiations with the EU has forced the government to confront some of the many anomalies in the state’s treatment of its non-Muslim citizens. Since it took power in November 2002, the Justice and Development Party (JDP) has established a dialogue with Turkey’s non-Muslim minorities and passed legislation to address some of their grievances. However, much still needs to be done both in terms of ensuring that they are able to enjoy the equality with Muslims that was foreseen in the 1923 Lausanne Treatment and in order to provide them with protection against racial and religious discrimination.
AKP And The Paradox Of Islamic Europhilia by Ioannis N. Grigoriadis
While Turkish political Islam has historically expressed its opposition to the prospect of Turkey’s full participation in a “Christian Club,” the recent EU policy of AKP has constituted a radical breach with that past: AKP is now among the staunchest supporters of Turkey’s EU integration. The AKP case is only seemingly a paradox. In fact, it is highly indicative of how ruling party agendas are modified on account of realism, expedience and external pressure. The success of the AKP’s EU policy would refute the incompatibility of Islamic politics with Western political values, while its viability will be affected by the EU’s stance on Turkey’s membership bid.
The Role Of Religion In Turkish Reactions To Balkan Conflicts by Esra Bulut
The paper examines some of the different ways ‘religion’ affected Turkish responses to the ethnic tensions and conflict that have occurred in South East Europe since the end of the Cold War, focusing on the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, and to a lesser extent on the case of relations with Macedonia. It seeks to provide a corrective to the tendency to make vague and often misleading generalizations about ‘religion’ in Turkey and its relevance to study of Turkey’s relations with other states and peoples. Religious factors are analyzed in terms of three connected yet distinct categories: (i) religious identity; (ii) the utilization and evocation of religious themes by political actors; and (iii) assumptions/worldviews that hold that religion is an important force in politics and international affairs. Was a sense of common religious identity with Muslim communities in South East Europe important to the Turkish reaction to the conflicts? How were religious themes evoked or used by political actors with regard to the conflicts? How important were worldviews that see religion as important in determining reactions to the conflicts? The article seeks to show why a full explanation of state and nonstate reactions (and not just foreign policy outcomes) also requires attention to the various appearances of religious factors in reactions, to the intertwining of religion and Turkish national identity, and to the central place that the issue of religion occupies in politics over Turkey’s past, present and future.
Failure Of Political Islam In Turkey by Bülent Aras
Political Islam played an important role in the previous three decades of Turkish political life. It is now time to declare the failure of political Islam and its gradual disappearance from the Turkish political scene. The ruling party, Justice and Development, sealed the fate of political Islam after it appropriated a conservativedemocrat identity. This essay deals with four key assumptions on political Islam that may help us understand why political Islam in Turkey is on the verge of disappearing.
Re-Socializing Religion by Gökhan Bacık
This article discusses religion in Turkey within the context of recent domestic and international developments. The main argument is the inapplicability of the Cold War perceptions on religion in Turkey. Accordingly, different political groups and movements have been in search of a new definition for the role of Islam in domestic politics. After comparing the Cold War and post-Cold War paradigms on religion, the article ends up with the special case of the Turkish left with a special reference to religion.
Can Religion Heal America’s Disadvantaged? by Dan Freifeld
The United States is currently debating the full-scale implementation of a piece of legislation contained in the Welfare Reform bill of 1996 that permits the direct government subsidy of religious organizations engaged in public social service delivery. Known as Charitable Choice, this law requires state governments to consider the applications of faith-based organizations on equal footing with secular social service organizations. The rational behind the law is to tap into the unique power of faith to heal the soul and inspire legions of compassionate social workers to take to the field and cure America’s social ills. Always a contentious issue, the interaction of church and state is coming to the fore in America. “Is this the innovation the country needs to address its poor and disadvantaged,” “is it even legal,” and “will it even work” are some of the questions this papers addresses.
The Unique Role Of Religion In Middle Eastern Ethnic Conflict: A Large-n Study by Jonathan Fox
There has always been a common perception that religion and politics are particularly and uniquely intertwined in Middle Eastern culture. While the anecdotal evidence for this perception is overwhelming, there have been few cross-sectional, large-n studies which have attempted to confirm this perception and explain why this close connection between religion and politics in the Middle East exists. Accordingly, this study uses the Minorities at Risk dataset to test this perception with regard to ethnic conflicts by comparing ethnic conflicts in the Middle East to those occurring in the rest of the world. The results show that on all measures used here, religion is at least twice as powerful an influence on Middle Eastern ethnic conflicts as it is on such conflicts in the rest of the world. However, other than this, Middle Eastern ethnic conflicts are not distinguishable from ethnic conflicts occurring elsewhere. These results hold up even when controlling for the region’s Islamic and autocratic nature.