Turkey Today: A Nation Divided Over Islam's Revival
The secular Republic of Turkey, which has gone further towards Westernization than any other Muslim country, has been caught up in the Islamic revival sweeping the world from Morocco to the Philippines. Three-quarters of a century after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk abolished the trappings of the Islamic state and replaced them with Western institutions, Turkey has become dangerously polarized. Ataturk's disciples see his revolution under threat and are engaged in a new crusade against the spread of political Islam. On the other hand, a reinvigorated Islamic movement chafes at official restrictions on Islamic practices and is seeking ways to gain political power. Turkey Today is about the Islamic surge in today's Turkey, the only Muslim country with one foot in Europe and an active member of the Western Alliance. It is about Ataturk's legacy, its successes and failures. It is also a personal view of the multi-dimensional nature of Islam in Turkey… as a political, moral, spiritual force. The New York Times bureau chief in Ankara before and after the 1980 military coup, Marvine Howe returns to Turkey to give an in-depth account of the Islamic revival in that rigidly secular country. She discusses the questions on many peoples minds: Why has political Islam reemerged in Turkey today? How does the observance of Islam in Turkey differ from that of other Muslims in the region? Does the Islamic movement pose a threat to the secular state and its relations with the West? What are the chances for an Islamic-secular dialogue and accommodation?Here is a close-up view of some of the many faces of Islam in Turkey: the fundamentalist who would sacrifice higher education for a headscarf, radical cult leaders who prey on youths, the Islamist author who openly seeks to return to Sharia (Islamic Law), ordinary students in the controversial Imam Hatip schools, a leading Islamic reformist who would be satisfied with the American Bill of Rights.Here too, you will meet the Kemalists imbued with the Ataturk mystique. There is the judge who firmly believes that all sectors of the Turkish society have been infiltrated by the Islamic movement. Above all many women are obsessed with the Iranian revolution and the possibility it might happen in Turkey. Their close allies are the military, who promoted religion against Communism in the 1980s, and a decade later launched a virulent campaign against what they perceive to be radical Islamic activities. This reportage-monograph also focuses on other aspects of contemporary Turkey: the Kurdish imbroglio, the mood of the minorities, the Islamization of the arts, the economic boom in the provinces, the reappraisal of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey Today is a lively engaging portrait of this richly diverse society, a fair and even-handed treatment of all sides.
Editorial Review -- From Library Journal
This timely book is an attempt to understand the role of Islam in Turkey today. It addresses a complex subject, one inseparable from the role of the Turkish military and, ultimately, the enduring influence of Kemal Ataturk himself. Howe, an American journalist who opened the Ankara bureau of the New York Times in 1979, asks whether Turkey is a democracy if the the military can repeatedly overthrow governments to restore the secular, Western-oriented rule inspired by its mentor, Ataturk. Its most recent action came in 1997, when it toppled the coalition government of Islamist prime minister Necmettin Erbakan. Another perceived threat to the Turkish government comes from the Kurds, who have been relentlessly oppressed by the military for years. Howe has contacts across the spectrum of Turkish society, and this compilation of her many interviews gives us an invaluable look at who the Turks are today. (Most Turks, whether religious or secular, are not fanatic.) Writing as an unbiased insider, Howe gives us a wonderful picture not only of current Turkish political life but also of its society and culture. An index would have been useful. Highly recommended for all libraries.DRuth K. Baacke, Whatcom Community Coll., Bellingham, WA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Customer Review -- from Amazon.com
" TURKEY TODAY, A NATION DIVIDED OVER ISLAM'S REVIVAL "At last a reference work on Europe's newest candidate.
Whoever has had the opportunity of sailing along the Dardanelles, and been faced with the splendor of Istanbul, will never forget that flood of golden fire which, at sunset, engulfs the antique Turkish city, town of Constantine, the first Oriental Roman emperor.
Any tourist currently believes that many unspoken records of the "Orient-Express " luxuries still linger in this accumulation of wealth and stench, a magic symbol of pré-Oriental cosmopolitism , word the ancient Greeks scholars used to describe an ideal giant city, " the big city " (polis) of " the universe " (kosmos).
This tourist might well be right, Marvine Howe suggests implicitely in her new book '" Turkey Today, A Nation Divided over Islam's Revival ". This former New York Times foreign correspondant, among many other hard and risky assignments, has been bureau chief in Ankara for three years and returned many times since. She knows every corner of Turkish domestic and foreign intricacies, as well as every aspect of this country's religious and cultural life.. For Marvine Howe " Istanbul is stilll a great multicultural meeting place " but, " increasingly divided in two worlds " For her it is not the case of " a classic schism between East and West, rich and poor, or traditional and progressive. It is not even the kind of religious factionalism that wracks other countries, because 98 percent of Turkey's 65 million inhabitants are Muslim. ".
The author emphasizes that it is " more and more evident " that " the great divide is to be seen between two concepts of life " in this old and in the same time, new country..
On one hand " a secular lifestyle with its inherent freedoms an insecurities " and on the other hand " a religious way with its certainties and strict controls ".
Marvine Howe has undertaken a difficult task. She has succeeded in being able to explain in detail the whole Turkish problem, although very clearly, within 300 densely printed pages. Thanks to this book, anybody can learn what is Turkey today, a far away country, generaly ignored by most of people ; a country scrutinized by strategists in the United States and Europe. This is a country famous because of its Romans ruins in Ephesus, and because of Ataturk, a former officer who, in the roaring twenties chose to become chief of state, ousted the old religious hierarchy and pachas, forbade the use of the tradtional red hat " Fez " and replaced it by an ugly grey cap. It will be known that Turkey is not only a dreamland for middle class yachtmen who can rent enormous sailing ships for a handful of dollars.
To write about such a country, so madly complicated, so unpredictable, was not an easy weekend pastetime.
If we look behind the author, we will find also, a hard working journalist, scrupulously careful, tough, tireless when she starts looking for details, small facts which mean a lot, causes, reasons that have motivated the key figures who built or who might destroy Kemal Ataturk's secular Turkish Republic.. Doing this, Ms. Howe did not leave one stone uncovered. Her book is the result of several years' intensive study. She consulted more than sixty respected Turkish, American or European specialists and scholars.. The moment one starts reading it , one is already trapped in the story. The author manages to take her guest by the hand and lead him or her, step by step, into the labyrinthine ancient and modern political history of this country, whose roots are so deep, its civilization so old that its origins have been lost in an unknown past.
" Come, come whoever you are, " Infidel, pagan or fire worshiper, Come to me, " Our convent is not a place of despair ".
This is not a place of despair Ms. Howe recalls when she quotes Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi's message of universal love. She explains that Celaleddin, a mystical poet, founded the order of the Whirling Dervishes seven hundred years ago.
She recalls that the Turkish peoples were among the first followers of Muhammad, the prophet, long before Ataturk and the " Young Turkish officers " who dared to toll the bell for the Ottoman empire. She describes it without falling into any modern traps, who are the Muslims today and what thoughts they share among themselves. She dives in the darkest waters of secular military repression, she does not forget the fate of the Kurds, nor the " silent minorities " made of Armenians and Greeks.
Political life is an essential factor. Ms Howe devotes several chapters to this aspect of Turkey. She writes with intensity of the daily politics and also the corruption. More than is generally understood outside Turkey. Marvine Howe is husking the parties' life, grain after grain, man by man, and also woman, when she tells what she learned about Mrs. Tansu Ciller, first woman and charming prime minister, as well as secular and religious leaders.
Modern Turkey is obsessed by Europe. Everybody is aware of that. Already during the past centuries...But today is different.
" The European opening comes at a propitious time when Turkey has seen a groundswell of civic consciousness and demands for democratic reform and renewal of outdated government institutions. Europe, with U.S. backing, can provide powerful incentives and guidance as Turkey moves ahead on its chosen path to become a modern democracy; " Marvine Howe writes as a matter of conclusion..
At last a real author's book. An author who does not attempt to indoctrinate her readers, a hard and impartial professional observer of the Word who offers a balanced picture of an unstable civilization. A reference book. To read at once.
Bertrand C. Bellaigue
Whoever has had the opportunity of sailing along the Dardanelles, and been faced with the splendor of Istanbul, will never forget that flood of golden fire which, at sunset, engulfs the antique Turkish city, town of Constantine, the first Oriental Roman emperor.
Any tourist currently believes that many unspoken records of the "Orient-Express " luxuries still linger in this accumulation of wealth and stench, a magic symbol of pré-Oriental cosmopolitism , word the ancient Greeks scholars used to describe an ideal giant city, " the big city " (polis) of " the universe " (kosmos).
This tourist might well be right, Marvine Howe suggests implicitely in her new book '" Turkey Today, A Nation Divided over Islam's Revival ". This former New York Times foreign correspondant, among many other hard and risky assignments, has been bureau chief in Ankara for three years and returned many times since. She knows every corner of Turkish domestic and foreign intricacies, as well as every aspect of this country's religious and cultural life.. For Marvine Howe " Istanbul is stilll a great multicultural meeting place " but, " increasingly divided in two worlds " For her it is not the case of " a classic schism between East and West, rich and poor, or traditional and progressive. It is not even the kind of religious factionalism that wracks other countries, because 98 percent of Turkey's 65 million inhabitants are Muslim. ".
The author emphasizes that it is " more and more evident " that " the great divide is to be seen between two concepts of life " in this old and in the same time, new country..
On one hand " a secular lifestyle with its inherent freedoms an insecurities " and on the other hand " a religious way with its certainties and strict controls ".
Marvine Howe has undertaken a difficult task. She has succeeded in being able to explain in detail the whole Turkish problem, although very clearly, within 300 densely printed pages. Thanks to this book, anybody can learn what is Turkey today, a far away country, generaly ignored by most of people ; a country scrutinized by strategists in the United States and Europe. This is a country famous because of its Romans ruins in Ephesus, and because of Ataturk, a former officer who, in the roaring twenties chose to become chief of state, ousted the old religious hierarchy and pachas, forbade the use of the tradtional red hat " Fez " and replaced it by an ugly grey cap. It will be known that Turkey is not only a dreamland for middle class yachtmen who can rent enormous sailing ships for a handful of dollars.
To write about such a country, so madly complicated, so unpredictable, was not an easy weekend pastetime.
If we look behind the author, we will find also, a hard working journalist, scrupulously careful, tough, tireless when she starts looking for details, small facts which mean a lot, causes, reasons that have motivated the key figures who built or who might destroy Kemal Ataturk's secular Turkish Republic.. Doing this, Ms. Howe did not leave one stone uncovered. Her book is the result of several years' intensive study. She consulted more than sixty respected Turkish, American or European specialists and scholars.. The moment one starts reading it , one is already trapped in the story. The author manages to take her guest by the hand and lead him or her, step by step, into the labyrinthine ancient and modern political history of this country, whose roots are so deep, its civilization so old that its origins have been lost in an unknown past.
" Come, come whoever you are, " Infidel, pagan or fire worshiper, Come to me, " Our convent is not a place of despair ".
This is not a place of despair Ms. Howe recalls when she quotes Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi's message of universal love. She explains that Celaleddin, a mystical poet, founded the order of the Whirling Dervishes seven hundred years ago.
She recalls that the Turkish peoples were among the first followers of Muhammad, the prophet, long before Ataturk and the " Young Turkish officers " who dared to toll the bell for the Ottoman empire. She describes it without falling into any modern traps, who are the Muslims today and what thoughts they share among themselves. She dives in the darkest waters of secular military repression, she does not forget the fate of the Kurds, nor the " silent minorities " made of Armenians and Greeks.
Political life is an essential factor. Ms Howe devotes several chapters to this aspect of Turkey. She writes with intensity of the daily politics and also the corruption. More than is generally understood outside Turkey. Marvine Howe is husking the parties' life, grain after grain, man by man, and also woman, when she tells what she learned about Mrs. Tansu Ciller, first woman and charming prime minister, as well as secular and religious leaders.
Modern Turkey is obsessed by Europe. Everybody is aware of that. Already during the past centuries...But today is different.
" The European opening comes at a propitious time when Turkey has seen a groundswell of civic consciousness and demands for democratic reform and renewal of outdated government institutions. Europe, with U.S. backing, can provide powerful incentives and guidance as Turkey moves ahead on its chosen path to become a modern democracy; " Marvine Howe writes as a matter of conclusion..
At last a real author's book. An author who does not attempt to indoctrinate her readers, a hard and impartial professional observer of the Word who offers a balanced picture of an unstable civilization. A reference book. To read at once.
Bertrand C. Bellaigue