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.

Avsnitt(389)

What Are Charities For?

What Are Charities For?

Charities have been drawn into the world of outsourced service provision, with the state as their biggest customer and payment made on a results basis. It is a trend which is set to accelerate with go...

14 Okt 201328min

Edward Snowden: Leaker, Saviour, Traitor, Spy?

Edward Snowden: Leaker, Saviour, Traitor, Spy?

Last June, Edward Snowden, a man still in his twenties with, as he put it, "a home in paradise", went on the run. He took with him vast amounts of secret information belonging to the US government's s...

7 Okt 201328min

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Why Did They Fail?

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Why Did They Fail?

Barely a year after Egypt's post-revolution elections were held, millions of protestors took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi. After a short stand-off with army lea...

30 Sep 201328min

The Rule of Law v the Rule of Man

The Rule of Law v the Rule of Man

With huge concern over tax avoidance, tax officials are the latest to be given increased powers of discretion. They will be able to penalise people who have obeyed the letter of the law, but who have ...

22 Juli 201327min

Scottish Nationalism: From Protest to Power

Scottish Nationalism: From Protest to Power

Just what does the Scottish National Party want? And what could it mean for the UK? Douglas Fraser investigates the SNP's long search for an independence vision that works. He talks to insiders about ...

15 Juli 201328min

They're Coming for Your Money

They're Coming for Your Money

Paul Johnson, the director of the widely-respected independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, has been looking at the latest projections for how much the government will spend in the next five years an...

8 Juli 201328min

Syria and the New Lines in the Sand

Syria and the New Lines in the Sand

Where the Arab Spring overthrew dictators, is the Middle East now dismantling the very 'lines in the sand' imposed by Britain and France a century ago? Edward Stourton investigates.

1 Juli 201327min

Pornography: What Do We Know?

Pornography: What Do We Know?

What do we really know about the effects of pornography?Public debate has become increasingly dominated by an emotive, polarised argument between those who say it is harmful and those who say it can b...

24 Juni 201328min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

motiv
aftonbladet-krim
p3-krim
spar
flashback-forever
rss-viva-fotboll
svenska-fall
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-krimstad
aftonbladet-daily
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-frandfors-horna
krimmagasinet
rss-aftonbladet-krim
olyckan-inifran
dagens-eko
fordomspodden
svd-ledarredaktionen