Good news. I just learned that my book, Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks, will be translated into Turkish and published by the well-regarded Iletişim Press. There have been quite a few reviews, quite positive ones I’m gratified to report. Most recently, a review in Al Jazeera (in Arabic). I’m also giving a few talks, in [...]
Nicole Pope wrote a powerful article about the meeting of international Islamic scholars I attended in Istanbul last week (see my earlier post on the meeting here and the conference resolution here). The role of Islamic scholars in trying to stop both war-related and domestic violence in Afghanistan by undermining its religious justification is noteworthy. [...]
Here are some of the latest figures on the status of women in Turkey. These are from the 2012 Turkish Statistical Institute’s report on women. They make up half of Turkey’s population of 75 million. In 2013, they had a life expectancy at birth of 79 (men 75). MARRIAGE Average age of marriage is 23 (men [...]
Here is the final resolution on Afghanistan issued by a large and varied group of top-level international Islamic scholars who met this week in Istanbul (see my blog post about the meeting below). The content was the result of two days of discussion and hours of haggling over the wording so that all the scholars [...]
I’m in Istanbul for a rather unusual event — the Third International Conference for Islamic Cooperation for a Peaceful Future of Afghanistan — a meeting of dozens of top Islamic leaders and scholars and Grand Muftis, including Deoband Ulema from India and a variety of Islamic scholars from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and [...]
Another review of my new book, Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks, has just appeared, this time in Muftah.org (click here). In case anyone is interested, all the reviews are listed on my website here.
Hannah Fairfield’s article in The New York Times is an eye-opener, showing that 15-year-old students in Eastern and Southern Europe and the Middle East had slightly lower overall scores in science (including reading and mathematical literacy), but girls consistently did better than boys (in Turkey almost 3% better). In fact, girls outperformed boys in most [...]
A 28-article collective labor agreement was signed between Mardin’s Nusaybin Municipality and a local labor union, Tüm-Bel-Sen, that has some unusual provisions. A speaker for the union, Doğan Altun, said that the mayor, Ayşe Gökkan, insisted on adding an article that supports women’s rights to the part of the agreement dealing with rights and leaves with [...]
Publication date is early November. The excitement (well, my excitement) is mounting. Here’s the publisher’s website with a pdf of chapter 1.
From Hurriyet: Şafak Pavey, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has become a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Anatolia news agency reported today. Pavey, the first woman with disabilities to be elected to the Turkish Parliament, also became the first Turkish parliamentarian to [...]