I have read so many negative stories about AK Party (Turkey’s ruling party) over the last 4 years and have heard almost every possible criticism of them. The problem is that these complaints almost always seem to be based on emotion, fear, urban legend and hate rather than clearly documented evidence about their so-called “Islamic Agenda”.

I tend to give AKP the benefit of the doubt and have had a deep down feeling that the charges against them are exaggerated.

I came across an article today on Newsweek that (although dated, it’s a month old) seems to lay out the case against AK party in a non-sensational but honestly critical way. I liked that. I encourage you to check it out. I think you’ll find it to be critical in a way that’s fair. I like that, that’s the way I hope to be dealt with by my critics.

Click on the sample quote below to read the whole article

Check out this report on BBC about pig farms in Turkey being shut down by Turkey’s religiously minded AK Party. The Agruculture minister says it has nothing to do with religion. What do you think?

Watch the video here.

As for me, this video was great advertising for the companies profiled in the report. Maybe they’ll deliver to Adana!

I’m asked regularly for my opinion about Turkey’s lifting of the headscarf ban in it’s universities. If you’re not aware, there used to be a law requiring women to remove headscarves before entering university buildings. The ban on headscarves was recently lifted by Turkey’s religiously minded AK Party.

When I imply that I think people should be allowed to express religious conviction in public, people usually ask me “can people go to the university with a headscarf in America?” I reply “Of course, it’s a free country.” I always get a sense that they don’t believe me.

Yesterday I was requesting a transcript from a community college where I took a couple courses and was amused to see the photo they use to show how diverse their campus is.

It was a great reminder of the fact that in American educational institutions, diversity of race, religion, gender, beliefs, etc, is celebrated and promoted. Although there are always those who feel threatened by those who are different, there is a general belief that expressing oneself is good when it doesn’t negatively affect others.

I wonder if this girl knows that she’s become the poster girl for political Islam in Turkey.  Her angry face is on the cover of every other article posted on the BBC about Turkey’s headscarf issue.  I don’t know what I’d think if it were me.   

You can see her  here here here  and here  

I’m trying to decide whether or not to weigh in on the headscarf issue here or not.  I was thinking about going out to the university today to take some pictures.  Who knows, maybe I should just focus on being a new dad.

Erkan’s blog directed me to a very interesting article on the Economist.

My favorite part of the article was the first paragraph. Not because of what was said, but because of how it was said.

FOR centuries Armenians in the village of Agacli, in south-east Turkey, cultivated silk. With it they wove fine carpets and flowing scarves that were traded all along the silk road from China to Europe. That was until 1915, when Ottoman forces slaughtered most of the villagers, and hundreds of thousands of other Armenians. The village was taken over by Kurds and, in the 1990s, became a target for terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Residents began to flee when the PKK started raiding the area demanding food and shelter…

This is one of the only times I’ve seen the Western media make the necessary effort to be sensitive to what might offend readers from the different ethnic backgrounds represented in this article.

By being politically correct, the writer is able to bring this hope-giving story to all audiences. Check out the rest of the story here; it’s truly beautiful.The article goes on to recount how an ancient tradition is being revived with the cooperation of Armenians, Kurds, Turks, and the EU.

I hope they can find a way to make their business viable, but it sounds like their sticker price will make it hard to find buyers.