An objection of an acamician of the University of Chanakale 18 March in Western Turkey, to Mr. Pipes opinions

Submitted by Mehmet Bulent Uludag (Turkey), Nov 13, 2009 at 17:10

Dear Mr. Pipes;

There are some misunderstandings about your views on "the New Turkey". AKP is not only reflecting reactions to the double-standarts of westeners on Israel, but also reflecting demands for a real democracy and reactions and angers of Turkish people to her own army's non-democrating positions. In the Cold War era Westeners were not so much interested in the level of democracy in Turkey and their closest ally was theTurkish army, not Turkish people. Fears about Soviet ruthless communism and hopes for development and enrichment have chanced this perception. Especially last 30 years withnessed this changing process.

Today people in Turkey is the most modernized one amoung Islamic countires. It is impossible to walk back, even for Islamists. Some religious symbols like turban affair and reactions to Israel are only weak reclections of a general disturbances about Turkish state monopoly, army's "kast" position and autharitarian militarism.

The ruling party AKP has a wide support thanks to an interesting charisma of Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoghan. But it is diminishing. His maneuver in Davos meetings in last February was a tactical one. Namely, the fears about changing position of Turkey's foreign policy are completely unnecessary. It is really impossible to create an islamist state in Turkey like Iran, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. The great portion of Turkish people desires welfare, conformism but also to respect traditional religious belief and life-styles which are weakening continually.

It is also impossible to create an anti-semitism in Turkey. Along history relations between Jewish People and Turks had been the closest friendship. No time occured massacres against Jews in the Turkish ruling states. On the contrary, there had always been mutual trust and friendship from the Khazar Empire to the Ottomans. Jews have been always happy in Turkish lands. In a religious attitude "Arabization" in Turkish Islam also impossible. The big part of Turkish people, including Islamists, does not respect to Arabs. After ten or twenty years we will see a real secular society in Turkey, after solving economic, cultural, democratic and educational probles.

Sincerely Yours;

Dr. Mehmet Bulent Uludag

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".