Turkey: The wrong place to look for the Moderates

Submitted by Rick House (United States), May 8, 2007 at 16:25

Dr. Pipes,

To suggest that the voices of million Turks calling for the maintenance of a secular way of life is an example of the long-missing moderate Muslim voice is to deny understanding of the situation in the Islamic world. You know as well as I that Turkey is not the norm in the Islamic world -- its geographic location and history mark it as a world apart. Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, as well as the nations of Arabia, the Caucasus, and North Africa see Turkey an enigma in the Muslim world. Many of these nations despise Turkey both for historic reasons and for its relationship to the West.

A hundred million Turkish voices would not illuminate moderate Muslims. All it will do is further deceive the West about the situation in the Islamic world.... Islam is on the march. Its diving into Southeast Asia, the heart of Africa, Europe, South America, and wherever else it sees an opening. Its vanguard is composed of its most radical elements. And with their victories, all Muslims rejoice, thus unifying radical Islam even more.

Personally, I'd love to see a rise and stand by Muslim moderates. However, for a moderate Mulim movement to develop we have to look for a more general and universal voice, not a Turkish voice or that of an isolated individual in Europe or America. It must come from the people of the faith and all the mullahs that direct and lead them. The voice we want to hear has to come from grassroots of Islam proper. It has to be heard on the streets of Amman and Riyadh and the coffee houses of Iran. Don't you agree?

Sincerely,

Rick House

Denton, TX

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