Realıtıes Of Turkey

Realities of Turkey is a book of collected weekly articles that has appeared in various English dailies over a period of two and half years. So the reader can find the realities of Turkey in motion as they evolve over time. This gives both the events and its observers a time to engage in multiple ways and more than once. I have always believed that there is never a dull moment in Turkey especially for diplomats, journalists and social scientists. Indeed, this country is in constant flux moving to and fro under the cross pressures of modernization, urbanization and globalization. So it is not hard to see contrasting modes of behavior and values existing at the same time. The modern and the traditional, the rural and the urban, the secular and the non-secular coexist sometimes peacefully, sometimes in tension. All these contrasts are interwoven as a canopy that makes up what is commonly called Turkey Today, Turks are increasing becoming aware that there are others living in their lands that are not ethnic Turks and having different cultures, unlike what was taught to them in school. The need to reconcile ethnic, religious and cultural differences is ushering in a new understanding of citizenship and a legal system to manage this ´newly recognized´ diversity. This is a colossal psychological and political task which Turkey is undergoing. On the other hand Turkey has to catch up with the world that has gone by while Turkey was somehow politically and economically isolated during the Cold War when the Turkish el ite thought it was a good security policy.