Category: Secularism/Islam
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2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Turkey – United States Department of State
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The government issues chip-enabled national identity cards that contain no visible section to identify religious affiliation. The information on religious affiliation is recorded in the chip and remains visible to authorized public officials as “qualified personal data” and protected as private information. Previously issued national identity cards, which continue in circulation, contain a space for…
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In the Battle Against Tsar Putin, Don’t Trust Sultan Erdogan – Haaretz.com
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From the top of his one thousand and one room palace, the Turkish president declared that he would oppose the entry of Finland and Sweden as new members of NATO. The reason: they are guesthouses for terrorists. Hannah Arendt, referring to totalitarian regimes, said we don’t know when we should laugh and when we should…
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A Fading Future in Istanbul – Palladium
Image credit: Emir Eğricesu/Street musician in Istanbul, Turkey The neighborhood of Çengelköy (pronounced: Chengel-koy) is nestled in Istanbul on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. Its streets are steep climbs, and a perilous journey for the uninitiated driver. It’s a place where the nightlife is lively but sober. The nouveau riche couples and families of…
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The irresistible rise of the civilisation-state – UnHerd
A spectre is haunting the liberal West: the rise of the “civilisation-state”. As America’s political power wanes and its moral authority collapses, the rising challengers of Eurasia have adopted the model of the civilisation-state to distinguish themselves from a paralysed liberal order, which lurches from crisis to crisis without ever quite dying nor yet birthing a…
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There is no justification for turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque – Spectator
It is official: Hagia Sophia, for a thousand years the world’s largest cathedral, and since 1934 a museum, is to be turned back into a mosque. Ever since I heard of the possibility, I have been praying it would not be so because of the impact it will have on Muslim-Christian relations in Turkey, the…