Category: World

UN Women to open regional office in Turkey

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women– will open a regional office in Turkey.

Thanks to efforts by Turkish Foreign Ministry and Family & Social Policies Ministry, the office, which will be responsible from Europe and Central Asia, will be opened in Istanbul.

UN Women will support intergovernmental organs while they are shaping up policies, and setting the norms and standards.

It will also provide financial and technical support, encourage effective cooperation with civil society, and help members states to apply the standards.

via UN Women to open regional office in Turkey – Trend.Az.

September 24, 2012
Turkey Grows as Destination for International Students

Turkish universities are becoming an increasingly popular destination for students from around the globe, signalling the importance of the growing education sector for Turkey. Between the 2005-2006 and the 2011-2012 school year, the number of international students attending Turkish universities more than doubled, from 15,481 to 31,170.

The growth of foreign students has been matched by the expansion of higher education in Turkey, where 50 public universities and 36 private foundation universities were established between 2006 and 2011, bringing the total number to 165. The same period witnessed an increase of 40 percent in the number of Turkish students attending university.

Students come from 155 countries to study in Turkey. In 2011-2012, Azerbaijan had the largest representation with more than 4,200 students, followed by Turkmenistan with 4,110 and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with about 3,800. Europe also showed strong numbers, with both Germany and Greece sending more than 1,300 students.

The experiences foreign students gain during their time in Turkey are of lasting value for foreign and Turkish students alike, helping to deepen ties between individuals that span national borders and erase stereotypes.

The motivation to pursue higher education in Turkey varies from student to student. For some it is the prospect of an inexpensive and quality education. For others it’s the opportunity to learn Turkish and receive an education in one of the many English language universities.

Desantilla Hasanaj came from Albania to study political science and public administration at Fatih University in Istanbul. She chose to study in Turkey “because the education here is much better than Albania.”

For Mohamed Bachir from Niger, who is in his second year studying Business Administration at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, the opportunity to learn a new language and culture made Turkey his first choice.

Wazir Ali, from Pakistan, who is studying at Zirve University in Gaziantep, was drawn by the prospect of learning Turkish and improving his command of English by studying in a programme that uses English as the language of instruction.

But it is not just the international students who benefit from studying in Turkey. Foreign students add to the character and quality of education for Turkish students as well.

Michael Brownfox has taught at numerous Turkish universities and was a founding partner of StudyinTurkey.com, a programme run by the Turkish Universities Promotion Agency, a private organization devoted to attracting students to Turkey.

Brownfox told SES Türkiye universities benefit from attracting international students to their student body, not only in financial terms, but also in the new opportunities and ideas that come from educating students who bring a different perspective on the world.

Having international students “really helps Turkish students to see both how big and small the world is,” Brownfox said. “This is a major benefit,” he noted, pointing out that the dynamic created by a global classroom better prepares all students, foreign and Turkish, to succeed in the global marketplace.

One of the most successful student exchange programmes is the EU’s Erasmus programme, which is open to 33 countries, including Turkey, and facilitates the process of student exchanges.

Since Turkey began participating in 2004, nearly 15,000 students have come through this one programme alone, according to data published by the European Commission.

Liam Murray, who came to Turkey from England as an Erasmus student, wanted the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and made Turkey his first choice over universities in North America or Europe.

Now beginning his fourth year living and working in Turkey, he remarked how the difference in ideas and background of the students at Middle East Technical University in Ankara added to the educational experience and drew him back to Turkey after graduation.

When students study in Turkey their education extends beyond the classroom as they get first-hand exposure to Turkish culture through their everyday interactions in Turkish society.

For the Albanian student Hasanaj, her time studying in Istanbul for her bachelor’s degree, and now a master’s degree, has given her a unique vantage point to observe the intricacies of Turkish society.

“After I got to know their past history and people, now I can better understand the complexity in which this society lives,” she said.

Creating a new generation of international students with exposure to Turkish language and society is in part a reflection of Turkey’s dynamic and proactive foreign policy over the past decade. Many of the students who come to study can use their knowledge of Turkey and connections to build bridges between Turkey and their home country.

Education as an arm of diplomacy can be seen in relatively new foreign policy areas like Africa, where until the mid-2000s Turkey had only a handful of embassies, but plans to have at least 33 by the end of 2012. A total of 1552 students from 44 African countries studied in Turkey in 2011-12, over a four-fold increase compared to 2005-06.

Jalil Abdallah, from Ghana, studied in his home country as well as in Egypt, and worked in a high school before he decided to pursue a graduate degree in international relations in Turkey.

Abdallah said the reconceptualisation of Africa within Turkish foreign policy prompted him to study in Turkey. With growing trade, diplomatic, educational and cultural ties between Turkey and Africa, he said studying in Turkey was the first step toward learning Turkish language and culture in order to pursue a career in diplomacy or an international organisation.

“The valuable thing is language and culture,” Abdallah told SES Türkiye. “‘The limit of my language,’ as said by Ludwig Wittgenstein, is ‘the limit of my world’.”

Another African student, Abobakar Tshilomba, studies economics and hopes that upon graduation he will be able to work in a business that connects his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Turkey. Having studied as an undergraduate in Turkey he will be well placed to facilitate connections and trade between the two countries.
Tuesday, 18 September 2012

SES Turkiye

September 22, 2012
The Irada Story

Islamic calligraphy is one of the highest forms of art that man has ever known. It venerates both the beauty and the majesty of Allah, His Book, and His Messenger, honoring the most blessed words from the most blessed of all creation and carrying with them his nur.

Over the years, many other forms of Islamic art came to ornament these blessed words, and thus the art of calligraphy became more characterized by their beauty than their majesty.

However, not always. Walking towards the Old Mosque (Eski Camii) in Edirne, Turkey, you’ll find something quite striking from a distance—numerous calligraphy pieces painted directly on the wall, larger than life. They are simple. They are majestic. They are stunning to behold. This mosque, one of the oldest of Ottoman history, captures the spirit of the early Sufi-sultans who established this legendary empire.

It is in this spirit, we set out on a quest to capture the beauty of Islamic calligraphy combined with reviving the tradition of large majestic calligraphy directly on the wall and bring it into your home, as a reminder that helps us proceed forward, as a meaning of our ultimate purpose, as an expression of hearts longing for the Divine. Or in other words, increasing one’s Irada.

The word Irada means to strive for something one wants or desires. Or, in a spiritual context, meaning striving for the Divine. With Irada Arts on your wall, this is what we aim to increase. With constant gentle reminders that are beautiful to look at and have a large majestic presence that cannot be overlooked, Irada Arts directs you to strive for what you want. Your walls talk, conveying to you messages that speak to your heart.

The end result was Irada: Islamic Wall Arts.

Irada: Islamic Wall Arts are quotes from Quran, Hadith, Islamic Poetry, Wise Sayings of the Pious, and so on, designed in English or Arabic, or both, of various sizes that can be applied onto the wall, seeming to the viewer as if calligraphy is painted directly on the wall.

We think “outside the frame.” By removing the “frame” of traditional calligraphy and increasing the size of the calligraphy piece, the walls act as the frame. The effect is a beautiful piece of calligraphy whose majesty and presence is felt. The walls speak to you, addressing those who will listen, reminding those who forget, and helping us all proceed. With Irada, transform your home, office, or school into a profound place of inner worship.

via The Irada Story.

September 22, 2012
Turkey’s objections to film remain peaceful

Appalled by the deadly protests in Egypt, Libya and other Muslim countries against an anti-Islamic video deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed, political and religious leaders in Turkey have been effective in calling on their own followers to exercise restraint.

Protests against the film “Innocence of Muslims,” deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed, have remained peaceful in Turkey. [Reuters]
“The film that insults Islam and the prophet is evil and provocative, but anyone who turns to violence is himself attempting to provoke Muslims,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “We shall not fall in the trap of provocation. Those who resort to violence in return will themselves be considered provocateurs against Muslims; and we reject that.”

An armed mob set fire to the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11th, killing Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other officials. Although protests broke out in at least 20 countries, in only a few, including Indonesia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Morocco, did they turn violent.

More than 30 people have been killed worldwide, including 12 people who died in an attack by a female suicide bomber in Kabul on Tuesday (September 18th).

The US government had no connection with the film, “Innocence of Muslims,” which was produced privately by a real estate developer.

In Ankara, protestors gathered twice outside the US Embassy, chanting slogans and burning a US flag, but the protests have been peaceful and security forces were not forced to engage the crowd.

For politicians in Ankara, such as Emrullah Isler, chairman of Turkish Group at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference’s Parliamentary Union, violent demonstrations under the name of Islam “serves well” to the radical groups in the Islamic world.

“We should understand that the radical groups are looking for an excuse to demostrate their existence and spread their propoganda,” Isler told SETimes. “Insulting the prophet can never be justified, but even so, this cannot be a reason for terror.”

Some religious leaders have also condemned of murderous fanaticism in the name of Islam.

Speaking to SETimes, Mustafa Said Yazıcıoglu, a professor of religious studies and former head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, said Muslims around the world should find a “civil way” to demonstrate their disagreement or fury on any provocations against their feelings.

“If these [protests] are all connected to the film that insults Islam and the prophet, they shouldn’t be demonstrated on the streets, but in civil discussions, such as raising the topic in international organizations,” said Yazıcıoglu, who was responsible for religious affairs in Erdogan’s cabinet until last summer.

Turkey, he said, does everything possibile to be restrained against the film. “We see that people in the Arab counries are pouring to the streets under the name of peace, but causing more deaths. What is the logic behind it?” he said.

Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based senior fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy’s Turkey Initiative, said that protests about perceived insults against Islam have always been more restrained in Turkey compared with many other countries.

“It was the same when there were protests about the anti-Islamic cartoons,” he said. “I don’t think this means that radical Islamists in Turkey are necessarily less angry but they do seem to be able to exercise greater self-control and more able to distinguish between something happening in a country and the government of that country being responsible for it.”

Protests in the past have somtimes turned violent. In 1993, 37 people were killed in Sivas when a mob of 10,000 people tried to lynch Aziz Nesin for translating the Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie’s story about the Prophet Mohammed that earned its author a death sentence.

“Turkey still has a major problem with religious intolerance,” Jenkins said. “But traditionally the worst violence, such as at Sivas, has been directed against other Turkish nationals, not foreigners.”

Yet, for most Turks there was very little time between them becoming aware of the latest film’s existence and reading about US condemnation of it.

“Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was also very quick to condemn both the film and the violence. So that probably helped as well,” he said.

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

September 22, 2012
Catholics Then, Muslims Now

Catholics Then, Muslims Now

By DOUG SAUNDERS

THE short, crude anti-Muslim video that sparked a wave of violent protests across the Middle East did not emerge from an obscure pocket of extremism; it is the latest in a string of anti-Muslim outbursts in the United States. In August, a mosque was burned down in Missouri and an acid bomb was thrown at an Islamic school in Illinois. The video’s backers are part of a movement that has used the insecurity of the post-9/11 years to sow unfounded fears of a Muslim plot to take over the West.

Their message has spread from the obscurity of the Internet and the far right to the best seller lists, the mainstream media and Congress. For the first time in decades, it has become acceptable in some circles to declare that a specific religious minority can’t be trusted.

During the Republican primaries, Muslims were accused of harboring plans for “stealth Shariah.” A group of five Republican House members, led by Michele Bachmann, groundlessly accused two prominent Muslim federal officials of loyalty to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. Another Republican representative, Joe Walsh of Illinois, used a campaign rally to suggest that Muslims in the Chicago suburbs were plotting to commit terrorist attacks. In New York City, the police spied on thousands of Muslims for six years without producing any evidence that could lead to an investigation.

The view that members of a religious minority are not to be trusted — that they are predisposed to extremism, disloyalty and violence; resist assimilation; reproduce at alarming rates, and are theologically compelled to impose their backward religious laws on their adopted home — is not new. From the 19th century on, distrust, violence and, eventually, immigration restrictions were aimed at waves of Roman Catholic immigrants.

As late as 1950, 240,000 Americans bought copies of “American Freedom and Catholic Power,” a New York Times best seller. Its author, Paul Blanshard, a former diplomat and editor at The Nation, made the case that Catholicism was an ideology of conquest, and that its traditions constituted a form of “medieval authoritarianism that has no rightful place in the democratic American environment.”

Catholics’ high birthrates and educational self-segregation led Mr. Blanshard and others — including scholars, legislators and journalists — to warn of a “Catholic plan for America.”

Many Americans shunned such views, but some liberals did not. Mr. Blanshard’s book was endorsed by the likes of John Dewey and Bertrand Russell, and respected scholars like Seymour Martin Lipset, Reinhold Niebuhr and Sidney Hook debated Catholics’ supposed propensity toward authoritarianism.

Then, as now, there seemed to be evidence supporting the charge. Majority-Catholic countries like Spain, Italy, Portugal and Austria, had fallen into fascism or extremism. Crime and educational failure were rife among the children of Catholic immigrants. In the years after World War I, Catholic radicals carried out a deadly wave of terrorist attacks in the United States.

These days, the same dark accusations are being leveled at American Muslims, many of whom are recent immigrants. And many otherwise reasonable Americans have greeted Muslims with fear and suspicion — in part because they came at a bad time. Their emigration to the United States, like that of many Catholics before them, has coincided with turmoil in their native countries and violence from a few extremists in their midst.

In the years after 9/11, anti-Muslim rhetoric simmered on blogs, YouTube videos and a stream of inflammatory best sellers. But not until Barack Obama’s presidency was it allowed to erupt into prominent corners of mainstream politics. Mitt Romney, to his credit, has shunned notions of American Muslim disloyalty, but Republican political and media figures have tolerated or even advanced these hateful myths.

In reality, Muslim immigrants are a success story. They have high levels of educational attainment. Their birthrate is converging quickly with that of the general population. They are likely to ultimately make up less than 2 percent of the population, around the same share as Episcopalians and Jews.

The violent few among them are no more a product of Muslim values than 1920s anarchists were of Catholic values. Extremism is vanishingly rare among American Muslims, and loyalty to secular state institutions is high. The idea of a stealth takeover by Islamic believers is a delusion. So is the more moderate idea of a permanently alien and unassimilable “civilization” in America’s midst.

American Muslims are falling victim to the same misunderstandings and fallacies that threatened earlier waves of non-Protestant immigrants. The last thing they need, as they work to become part of the mainstream, is a political movement devoted to portraying them as a menace. In an election year when both major parties have a Roman Catholic on the ticket, we should take care to make sure that history does not repeat itself.

Doug Saunders, the European bureau chief for The Globe and Mail, is the author of “The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West?”

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 18, 2012, on page A25 of the New York edition with the headline: Catholics Then, Muslims Now.

via Catholics Then, Muslims Now – NYTimes.com.

September 19, 2012
Muhammad full movie – Innocence of Muslims

important to read
if ur arab/ muslim and u understand arabic then tell me what u think of what theyre saying in 4:20 if islam is a peacefull religion try to talk to your own people that are supporting these terrirests and the world will be more than happy to look at islam is a peacefull religion , dont support or help these idoits they are just distroying your religion and trying to make the world think a diffrent way i have some good friends that are totally diffrent than these just try talking to them and making them change in are religion we have something called forgiveness but in 4:20 it shows the oppostie , it says kill jews and christians and never and dont ever accept any peace or promisses of them , kill them and send them to hell allah is backing us. if u think your religion isnt what theyre saying then talk to them and make them change tell these i even made a video to show you even tho idk if there is much worst stuff

September 17, 2012