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Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that was broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

Europe can afford to deny Turkey a membership. You know, the world will go on – the world always goes on. And Turkey will survive, Europe will survive, but it will be a great missed opportunity. For both. (video)

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist

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Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“I mostly agree with the quotation, but I should also add that the problem is not only the lack of political will in today’s Europe. For decades, neither Brussels nor European governments did anything to prepare for the future. Check the history books that are still being used in European countries. Turks and Islam are still shown as an opponent, if not hostile or even enemy. i.e: Greece was about to modernize its history curriculum with “less anti-Turk” tone, but it couldn’t do it after enormous public pressure. The social integration can be achieved in the long term, but we have not seen any effort and it gives a hint about the fact that the EU won’t be closer to Turkey for some more decades. Then we would see that “it was a missed chance”.

Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that will broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

If your fear is about Islam – you already got it. You already have millions of Muslims within your borders(video)

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist

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Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“I don’t agree with the wording of the quote. It is like a doctor, saying, “If you fear is about cancer, you already got it.” Countering the Islamophobic arguments with such provocative expressions is not a true way. European Xenophobia is not something new. The only solution to this problem can be based on a widespread European education which would teach the future generations that Europe is not Rome and foreigners are not barbarians. Muslims are just one portion of all foreigners. Defining the whole problem by concentrating on a part of it makes the problem even worse”.

Views of people from Turkey and Holland on statements made by Newsweek journalist Fareed Zakaria, Turkish president Abdullah Gül and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Dutch VPRO documentary ‘Turkije – Het Dilemma van de Democratie’: ‘Turkey – the dilemma of democracy’ that was broadcast on 8th of October. Daily at Sargasso from October 5th until October 12th, at 13.00h (Amsterdam time, 14.00h Istanbul time). This blogging project is part of the Dutch democracy week WijZijnDeBaas (WeAreTheBoss): the Dutch contribution to the International Week for Democracy. More information here.

The problem is not religion. It is the social-political context in which the religion exists. You can’t change the religion, but you cán change the social-political context. It becomes a very hostile relationship with the 1.2 billion Muslims to tell them: the problem is your religion….

Fareed Zakaria,
Newsweek journalist

==========================================================
Emre Kizilkaya | The Istanbulian
turkish journalist, Hürriyet newspaper, blogger.

“As long as the question is wrong, there is no way to answer it correctly. Islam is a religion and one of its main principles suggests that “the religion is between the God and His subject.” Another significant Islamic principle (from Quran) says that “your religion is for yourself and my religion is for myself.” So Islam is something personal, but Democracy is a form of government, which is public. They are not mutually exclusive, but they are irrelevant. In these circumstances, associating the democracy with Islam is harming both of them. This errant trend gives power to political Islamists, who don’t care about harming both of these concepts in advantage of their personal interests. Because it’s easier to manipulate the public opinion by the power of the faith”.