Islamists lost test with power, Arab and Turkish intellectuals agree

What has been the success rate of Islamic movements in relation to their advancing democracy, transparency, accountability, responsiveness to the poor in their society and constitutional reform?

This telling article from Turkey indicates that political parties have come to grasp power for the sake of power, not for the benefit of the general population.

Hasan Mekki from Sudan, İhsan Yılmaz from İstanbul's Fatih University,  Sociology professor Semir Budinar from Morocco, Dr. Cemal Seferti from Syria and many others evaluate the acheivements of Islamists in power in this telling article.

"Cairo University academic Mohammed al-Sharqawi said the relations between people and the state should be reevaluated in the Muslim world. He said that when Islamists stay in power for a long time, they began to degrade in terms of democratic and Islamic values."

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The Middle East: What is the solution to the violence?

From the pen of Tony Blair:

The last weeks have seen a ghastly roll call of terror attacks in the obvious places: Syria, Libya, Iraq and Lebanon as well as Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Pakistan. Also suffering are places where we have only in recent years seen such violence: Nigeria, and in many parts of central Africa, in Russia and across central Asia, and in Burma, Thailand and the Philippines. We can either see all of these acts of killing as separate – produced by various political contexts – or we can start to see the clear common theme and start to produce a genuine global strategy to deal with it.

The fact is that, though of course there are individual grievances or reasons for the violence in each country, there is one thing self-evidently in common: the acts of terrorism are perpetrated by people motivated by an abuse of religion. It is a perversion of faith. But there is no doubt that those who commit the violence often do so by reference to their faith and the sectarian nature of the conflict is a sectarianism based on religion.

There is no doubt either that this phenomenon is growing, not abating. Read more

Anywhere else this would be called "Ethnic Cleansing"

The numbers are truly staggering: In Iraq of 2003, until the fall of Sadam Hussein, there were 1.5 million Christians, but today there are only 250,000, that means that 1.25 million have migrated, killed or been forced to become Muslims. In Syria of just three years ago there were 1.75 million Christians, out of whom 450,000 have already left, and the rate of the ethnic cleansing is only growing.

"There is not much confidence and credibility left for Turkey" - EU

An amazing statement coming from the EU about Turkey and it's two new laws:

One law to change the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors;

and the other law to restrict the free use of the Internet.

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Other stories about these events:

CHP Leader: PM Paralyzes Constitutional Order to Avoid Graft Probe

Swoboda says Legislation an Attack on Rule of Law

Turkey's President Approves Tighter Control of Internet



 

Turkey: "The Collapse of Political Islam"


They said, “We will raise a pious generation…” There was also a bonus accompanying it: “Also a revengeful generation…”

Before they even started raising, we have seen that the “pious” part was baloney; their main concern was to raise a “revengeful” generation… Before the new ones arrived, the existing ones have demonstrated very nicely to us what is what.

They are fighting among themselves. There are no rules, no fair play. Neither are there any principles nor ethics…

Supposedly, they were the well brought up pious people. Supposedly, they were going to raise the new generations like themselves. Well, their concern was not raising them but it was making them resemble themselves…

They have added “Islam” as a prefix to politics… They have done the worst they could do to Islam; they have done the biggest injustice, the biggest sin. They have added the word “conservative” at the beginning of “democracy.” They buggered up both democracy and conservatism. As if that was not enough, they also added the adjective “advanced.”

What they meant was this: When there is Muslim on top, it is good… When it is conservative, it is clean… They have dragged all of these through the mud…

Lend an ear to this thunder coming from Turkey, from our beloved country, from the deep: This noise is the crackling sound of the collapse of political Islam in Turkey…

It is the sad resonance coming from behind the Rabia salute… It is the historic document of how a democracy was plotted against by adding adjectives in front of it. It is the picture of an amazing example that appears behind the curtain of a “Muslim brother.”

Shoe boxes, millions of dollars that nobody knows where they have come from and where they are going, shameless intrusions to the most confidential, private parts of our lives; a war without any principles, ethics and conscience…

This is the extract of the day we are living in…

Was this the future you prepared for the new generations under the pretext of “piousness”? You can be proud of yourself…

Character wreckage


Here is a victim of eavesdropping: Me. I’m telling you do not try to enjoy listening or reading the intercepted phone conversations of people you are angry at. Do not ever get into the primitive tribal mood of “Their unhappiness is my happiness.”

We are going through a disgusting period. It is an era when humanity, dignity, everything that has made us what we are have been trodden on shamelessly… Don’t think that what has happened to your neighbor is something that would make you happy.

Know that this doomed order is taking all of us, taking from all of us… Bodies are floating on the river… If you look carefully, you will see your own body there…

Our country is in such a dark, such a savage and such a merciless state… In order to survive this savagery, he has created second, third, fourth and even fifth personalities within us.

In order to exist, he has produced two or three monkey characters from all of us…

He is included in this and me also… You should know that you are also included…

Don’t laugh; do not be so happy… The time will come and this interim regime will pass and when we look back, we will identify our own body under that rubble.

Well, we have deserved it with our cowardliness, with our time-serving and our sluggishness…

Ertuğrul Özkök is a columnist for daily Hürriyet in which this piece was published on Feb 8. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.

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Gen. Sisi: "Egypt's Greast Challenge is Religious Discourse"

General Abdul Fateh al-Sesi is the military leader who ousted former President Morsi. He may become the next president of Egypt.

Since then, the Muslim Brotherhood, which had formally been illegal, is once again in the bad books of the law.

The June Revolution was the response of the general population to a regime that was going to bring in "Shariah Law".

Recently, General Sesi's speec to his Egyptian people contained motivation for changing the way Egyptians relate to each other, and how they identify and practice their religion.

First,  "Religious discourse is the greatest battle and challenge facing the Egyptian people."

Secondly, Islam in Egypt needs to be updated with modern understandings. It has not changed for 800 years and it needs a new version.:

He called on , "called on all true followers of  Islam to aid in the changing (improving) the image of Islam to the world." He no longer wants Islam to be seen as dedicated to violence and destruction. To him, much of the violence against individuals and the stare are "crimes  committed in the name of Islam."

Israel: The End of the "Founder's Generation"

The next six months mark a turning point in Israel, with the end of an era. Simon Peres will be stepping down. Read more

What is the Future of Political Islam? Examining Egypt and Turkey

Egypt's tourism industry is being crippled by social conflicts
Political Islam is showing its face in Egypt and Turkey. Unrest, riots, a clampdown on civil society and journalists in jail are only the tip of the iceberg in the growing polarization between various groupings within complex societies.

Both Turkey and Egypt have dynamic cultural industries including recording artists, television and acting. The influence of these industries spreads far beyond the geographical boundaries. The world is watching closely.

Tourism in Turkey influences a large percentage of its GDP
What is the future of political Islam, given the experience in Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria? Democracy, which was supposed to take root with the "Arab Spring" and the long period of economic stability in Turkey, is being sorely tested.

Egypt is preparing for future elections and there is ongoing fear that the process will not be smooth. Will the military take the helm once again, this time through elections?

Turkey also faces elections this year. First municipal elections will take place and some pundits forecast the election of a mayor in Ankara who will not represent the governing AK Party's candidate. The recent defection of eight AK Party members in Parliament, with the forecast of "others about to resign as well" represents a threat to the Prime Minister's popularity.

Ongoing conflicts generate a fear that the Turkish government is going to dominate the justice system, "which would be a step backwards"|, according to the European Union.

This article from Al Monitor looks beneath the surface of daily "news events" to examine the future of democracy in just two of the region's complex societies.

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