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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Robert Miller: Why the protests in Turkey now? : Ct

Robert Miller: Why the protests in Turkey now?
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June 29, 2013 4:30 am • ROBERT MILLER | state guest columnist

Americans generally know little about Turkey and I have found that by and large most have a negative image of the country. Why then should we be concerned about the current unrest?

In 1974-75 I had the privilege of teaching at Ankara University and living and traveling extensively in Turkey with my family. At that time the nation was strongly secular, with strong Islamic traditions practiced only in rural Turkey. Adults and young people in the cities behaved and practiced Islamic traditions much like U.S. Christians followed theirs. Woman received equal treatment to men and made up a large percent of the faculty and professional positions in society. Although there was some political activity supporting a more rigorous Islamic state, the changes the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, instituted in 1922, seemed unlikely to change. Those included a new language replacing Arabic and full rights for women, eliminating the veil. Although a despot in his own right, Ataturk was highly revered. The strongly secular and equally revered military was also there to ensure the status quo.

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