What does a Muslim country look like?
I've been in Turkey for the last few days, spending time between Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep, which is Turkey's sixth largest city, located in the south-east of the country.
Although Turkey may not be the UK's closest Muslim country in geographical terms (I believe Morocco may be closer), I think that historically and culturally it may be the closest as part of our European heritage.
The people I've met here are passionate about describing Turkey as the 'bridge' between Europe and the Middle East. Nowhere is that more poignant than here in Istanbul, where the residents point to the bridge across the Bosphorous that links Europe to Asia symbolically as well as physically. The architecture, landscape and climate feel at once both European and Asian, interwoven in an inexplicably successful manner.
The melange is on the one hand confusing. What is Turkey? What is its place? Is it European, or is it Middle Eastern? Does it rest on a history of fluid cultures, peoples, invasions and empires? Or is it embracing and driving forward the 21st century?
On the other hand, the paradoxes that face Turkey are the same ones that face the rest of the increasingly globalised borderless world, except Turkey's history and geography force it to face the seeming contradictions front and centre. Do affiliations relating to one part of a nation's identity, trump other ties, or can they co-exist? Or - and this is where Turkey's real potential for the future may lie - is a multifaceted and complex nation like Turkey which has several connections, going to drive forward a sustainable and peaceful global future?
These questions and challenges make Turkey a Muslim nation different to any other. It is at once traditional Muslim heartland, but also part of the European family. Its secular political system, which keeps religion firmly in the private domain, whilst its people are fervent about calling themselves Muslim, is quite distinct from other Muslim countries that I have visited.
I asked myself the question "Why does Turkey feel different to other Muslim countries that I've visited?" The answer may lie in examining our own expectations of what a Muslim country should or should not be. Or it may lie in Turkey's continuing volatile debate to understand its own identity as a European Muslim.
Although Turkey may not be the UK's closest Muslim country in geographical terms (I believe Morocco may be closer), I think that historically and culturally it may be the closest as part of our European heritage.
The people I've met here are passionate about describing Turkey as the 'bridge' between Europe and the Middle East. Nowhere is that more poignant than here in Istanbul, where the residents point to the bridge across the Bosphorous that links Europe to Asia symbolically as well as physically. The architecture, landscape and climate feel at once both European and Asian, interwoven in an inexplicably successful manner.
The melange is on the one hand confusing. What is Turkey? What is its place? Is it European, or is it Middle Eastern? Does it rest on a history of fluid cultures, peoples, invasions and empires? Or is it embracing and driving forward the 21st century?
On the other hand, the paradoxes that face Turkey are the same ones that face the rest of the increasingly globalised borderless world, except Turkey's history and geography force it to face the seeming contradictions front and centre. Do affiliations relating to one part of a nation's identity, trump other ties, or can they co-exist? Or - and this is where Turkey's real potential for the future may lie - is a multifaceted and complex nation like Turkey which has several connections, going to drive forward a sustainable and peaceful global future?
These questions and challenges make Turkey a Muslim nation different to any other. It is at once traditional Muslim heartland, but also part of the European family. Its secular political system, which keeps religion firmly in the private domain, whilst its people are fervent about calling themselves Muslim, is quite distinct from other Muslim countries that I have visited.
I asked myself the question "Why does Turkey feel different to other Muslim countries that I've visited?" The answer may lie in examining our own expectations of what a Muslim country should or should not be. Or it may lie in Turkey's continuing volatile debate to understand its own identity as a European Muslim.
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 20:58
3 Comments:
You must visit the beautiful Urfa while you're there. (Dare I say it is more of a Syrian than Turkish city).
Be the leaders of countries that observe the people, not only forbids lying. Thank you Wassalamu'alaikum
thanks for your precious comments about country which is little european little asian but almost none of both sides. i guess we just love the part of being unique. Nice observation, come again to discover the sacred part of istanbul.
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