I had the pleasure of spending the day with a Turkisth friend and her family. Via Özge's translations, we discussed many things, including that devilish thing called politics. Since 1923, Turkey has been a fervently secular country (with some occasional political upheavals), yet lately there is a very apparent rise of nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism. Like the US, a few years ago, the Turkish flag would be difficult to find flying outside of government buildings and the like. Now is a different story and secularists are afraid of becoming like Iran... Turkey has a very interesting history, including modern times - worth reading up and seeing the parallels (and differences) with other countries, including our own.
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