from both sides! The conferecne was originally scheduled to be at Bogazici (Boshporous Univeristy) but was called off due to a court order. But, in a surprising development, the conference was moved to Bilgi University, also in Istanbul. I have looked at three sources, the BBC, the arch conservative Turkish Daily ZAMAN (OUR TIME)
and The Turkish Daily News, which leans conservative. To my knowledge, the main liberal newspaper in Turkey Cumhuriyet does not have an English-language web site. From what I gathered, there were both protests against the forums and protests against the court order. But, none of the protests have turned violent. The forum is the most public discussion of the controversial Armenian Daispora/Genocide matter in Turkey. The issue is also being discussed in Congressional forums domestically. It can be hard to know what is going on in Turkey because western media (both conservative and liberal) generally have an anti-Turkish bias, but most Turkish newspapers have a conservative, sometimes radical pro-Turkish agenda. One of the readers of this blog posted a negative message to suggest that this controversy shows that Turkey is some kind of fascist country. I think every country has their share of controversies, and I think when you take issues as diverse as the death penalty, the war in Iraq, and how to historically interpret Hiroshima, slavery, and the treatment of Native Americans, it seems apparent that we have our own issues as well and I think this is true of virtually every country in the world today. I personally have mixed views regarding many controversies in Turkey. I often differ with Turkish nationalists and ethnic partisans on many matters. I think more work still needs to be done in Turkey with regards to women's rights, minority rights, and educating the poor. But, I also strongly abhore arbitrary bigotry and hostility which is based on the belief that somehow Turkey is a barbaric culture and a backwards country. Turkey has made tremendous progress in recent years, especially in terms of the country's economy and there has also been reasonable progress with regards to human rights. There will always be controversy in Turkey due to its complicated geopolitical situation. But, I am very encouraged by the progress that Turkey has made since I lived there as a child in the late seventies. I think one can safely that those days of open political street violence are thankfully in the past, and whatever else happens in Turkey is simply a casualty of the painful journey towards progress.
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2 comments:
I appreciate your impassioned response to this issue. My only concern is that this issue be acknowledged as one that really took place, which until now is one that has been repeatedlt denied
I understand your concerns. Alas, ethnic politics is a very ugly thing. There is an interesting column by Turkish novelists Elif Shafak in Sunday's Washington Post about the conference in Istanbul. I agree with about 2-3rd's of what she said.
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