Turkish Armenian: I'd defend Turkey against our enemies as we did in the Battle of the Dardanelles

Cumali Önal The chairman of the Association of Philanthropic Malatya Armenians (HAYDER), Hosrof Köletavitoğlu, is a typical Anatolian man. He defines himself as Anatolian in his heart, his mind and all his emotions. For him, a true Anatolian is a good citizen. He feels himself a stranger everywhere else, even in Armeni...

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Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen rejects any link to graft probe

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has rejected any link to an ongoing corruption probe in which 52 people, including well-known businessmen, the sons of three ministers, and a number of advisors, have been detained as part of a major investigation into alleged bribery linked to public tenders...

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Professor Ori Z. Soltes: ‘Gülen wants to be an altruistic servant of others’

Aydogan Vatandas Professor Ori Z. Soltes, author of ‘Embracing the World: Fethullah Gülen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others,’ explains how Gülen’s perception of Sufism is grounded particularly in the work of thinkers such as Jalaluddin Rumi, Ibn Arabi and Said Nursi, but is also grounded in the idea of selflessnes...

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Turkey's Tea Party

Mümtazer Türköne Some civil society organizations known for their religious tendencies expressed full support for the government in newspaper ads titled, “They thought it would last 1,000 years.” The title referred to the Feb. 28 process. This was followed by a second declaration titled, “Declaration of the nation,” which sought to express full and strong support for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the prime minister. The statement in the second declaration, about “attempts to undermine the achievements of the visionary leadership which has been ruling the country for 11 years,” reflects this explicit support. Such declarations target one side. These groups refer to a “group guardianship” as the main source of threat...

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Moved by Syrian refugees’ woes, U.S. mayors initiate blanket drive

Ali H. Aslan The conditions the Syrian refugees in Adana refugee camp are in deeply moved the U.S. mayors on an intercultural trip to Turkey. They have collected over 10 thousand blankets through the drive they kicked off once back home...

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Middle East's Struggle for Democracy: Going Beyond Headlines

Alp Aslandogan The ongoing struggle in the Middle East is not between the so-called Islamists and secularists. It's not pro-Morsi vs. pro-military in Egypt, or even Assad vs. opposition in Syria. The real struggle is between those committed to the core values of democracy and human rights and those who want to maintain a status quo of authoritarianism and domination. Western observers often place Middle East actors and their motives into well-intentioned but partially inaccurate or sometimes misleading categories. For example, the three major groups in Iraq are labeled as Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. The first two are religious categories, while the third is ethnic. The majority of Kurds are Sunni, and the majority of Iraqi Shiites are ethnically Arabs. So the right, albeit inconvenient,...

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Attacks on free press in Turkey

Abdullah Bozkurt It appears that Turkey's powerful prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has adopted a two-pronged assault on the right to freedom of expression and free press in Turkey against the background of increased criticism of his government amid outrageous revelations that the government has been running a massive profiling program on unsuspecting innocent citizens with no reasonable cause whatsoeve...

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A home for the holiday

By Angel Jennings  Roger Anderson has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.  After spending more than three decades living on the streets — seeking refuge under bridges, in the woods and most recently on a small, grassy patch by the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles — the 47-year-old moved into his first apartment in time for Thanksgiving. On Tuesday, Anderson was given the keys to a studio inside a sleek apartment complex that opened earlier this month and caters to the city's chronically homeless. The space is modest with a kitchenette, spacious bathroom and comfortable-sized living space. But for Anderson, the apartment is the first place he can set his wallet down without worry since he ran away from an abusive father at 13. "It's like it's a dream," Anderson...

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