Monday, February 18, 2008

Turkey and Minorities - Hipocrisy or a new direction?

I've been following the elections in Pakistan, but something else caught my attention. If you're interested in the blow-by-blow, Dawn (Pakistan's oldest and largest English daily) has jumped on the bandwagon and now has an election blog:

http://blog.dawn.com/

If you follow the international press, you may have noticed a kerfuffle between Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Erdogan advised Germans of Turkish origin not to "integrate" into German society, but not to allow themselves to be "assimilated," and that they should keep their language and culture alive. He further added that assimilation was a "crime against humanity." The remarks came at a time when German police are investigating two arson cases in Turkish-dominated areas, the most recent of which killed 9 people.

Coming from any other Turkish PM, this would have been laughable. Turkey discourages the existence of any other identity that that of "Turkish" and until recently had banned the use of the Kurdish language anywhere it could. Until, that is, the arrival of the "Islamist" AK Party, which has liberalized restrictions on Kurdish language and culture (notwithstanding the Army's ongoing assault on Kurdish northern Iraq, or "Terrorist Kurdistan" as the headline on today's Zaman read).

As one Zaman columnist noted, if Turkey wants to lecture others on the benefits of "integration" over "assimilation," it had better clean its own house.

The advice extends to the rest of the Muslim world. Germany is not North America or Palestine - its politically dominant culture has a legitimate claim as a native culture. If Arabs and Turks are to be treated equal under the law in Europe, then their home countries should be setting the example.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.

- Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Last Sermon, 10 A.H.


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