Turkey: Staying Secular Insha'Allah
Analysis18 Okt 2010

Turkey: Staying Secular Insha'Allah

Turkey's increased economic and political importance makes it a place which outsiders need to understand.

Since 2002, the nation has been governed by the AKP, a political party with Islamist roots. The AKP's time in power has coincided with improvements in Turkey's economic management, the rise of its international influence and a dramatic decline amongst its citizens of support for sharia law.

Outsiders tend to see Turkey as wrestling with a choice between Islamism and secularism. However the nation seems able to live with - even prosper under - the apparent contradiction of a government with Islamist origins and a secular constitution.

Edward Stourton attempts to unravel the complicated reality of Turkish politics and get beyond the usual Western obsession with whether Turkey's loyalties lie with the West or the Islamic world. He investigates the new elites that are shaping the country's future. Will they help Turkey fulfil its dream of becoming a global power and the West's dream of a model Muslim democracy?

The featured contributors in the programme are:

Firdevs Robinson, an editor and Turkey specialist at the BBC World Service

Ziya Meral, a Turkish academic at Cambridge University

Ceren Coskun, a British-Turkish academic at the London School of Economics

Professor Henri Barkey from the Canegie Endowment for International Peace

Dr Soner Cagaptay from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Professor Binnaz Toprak, a social scientist at BoğaziÃi University in Istabul

Producer: Helen Grady.

Episoder(389)

Marvellous Medicine

Marvellous Medicine

Most of us were blindsided by the novel virus SarsCov2, but infectious disease experts had been warning about the possibility of a global pandemic for some years. For them it was never a matter of if,...

14 Jun 202128min

The Zoomshock Metropolis

The Zoomshock Metropolis

Our towns and cities are facing an existential crisis. The rise of online shopping has left gaping holes in high streets. And if hybrid working takes off, some economists predict a dramatic 'zoom shoc...

31 Mai 202127min

What the Foucault?

What the Foucault?

Last December Liz Truss made a speech. The Minister for Women and Equalities spoke about her memories of being at school in Leeds. She was taught about sexism and racism, she said, but not enough time...

24 Mai 202128min

Global Britain: is there substance behind the slogan?

Global Britain: is there substance behind the slogan?

Having left the EU, the UK is now re-branding itself as "Global Britain", but what does that actually mean? A key plank of the new foreign policy is a pivot to the "Indo-Pacific". How is this seen in ...

29 Mar 202129min

Science in the Time of Covid-19

Science in the Time of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the best of science and the worst of science. New vaccines have been produced in less than twelve months. But at the same time we’ve seen evidence exaggerated and underm...

22 Mar 202127min

The Fine Art of Decision Making

The Fine Art of Decision Making

Margaret Heffernan explores the fine art of decision making in times of uncertainty. We make decisions all the time which affect our personal lives, but what about the decisions which affect the lives...

15 Mar 202129min

Levelling Up Wakefield

Levelling Up Wakefield

With its low-wage economy, Wakefield is the kind of place the government has promised to help level up. But what kind of help do people there most need? Anand Menon returns to his home city to find ou...

8 Mar 202129min

Magic Weapons

Magic Weapons

There used to be a romantic notion of globalisation that all countries would simply have to get along as we were all so interconnected. Why fight when your interests are aligned? It’s an idea that has...

1 Mar 202130min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
bt-dokumentar-2
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
chit-chat-med-helle
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-ness
e24-podden