Very interesting and prescient article. Thanks for sharing. Having been brought up in Europe I feel very comfortable with the Turkish understanding of Islam. I certainly think the way Turkey marches forward is inspiration to progressives all over the Islamic world.
I'm very sorry for my late response. I was so busy during last week.
On topic: I just wanted to share some parts oh this article because you were so much interested in our social perception of Saudi tourists in Turkey.
In fact, a Turkish laborer returning from Riyadh is far less likely to espouse Shariah (Islamic law) than his Ruhr Valley counterpart in Germany. Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of Turkey’s political Islam—the molding of Muslim belief into a political ideology—was an engineering student in Germany during the 1950s. But whereas Turkish communities in Europe are major funding sources for radical Islamic politics back home, such activity is practically nonexistent among those who live in Saudi Arabia. There appears to be a considerable gap between those Turks who advocate an Islamic society and those who have actually lived in one.
(...)
Individualism is another contentious issue between Turkey and the rest of the Islamic countries. One of Ataturk’s greatest accomplishments was in personalizing religious faith, a noteworthy exception to the usual society-in-transition scenario, in which modernization threatens age-old conventions and causes general anxiety among the worried masses, who turn to religion for expedient answers to their concerns. As Luther did in the West, Ataturk preempted this development in Turkey by insisting that each individual is ultimately responsible for his actions and not a victim of irresistible social and political forces.
etc. pp.
The thing is that Turks generally aren't fond of the House of Saud and I'm not even talking about Alevi or non-Sunni Turks particularly. Secular parts of our society are condemning them for exporting the Wahabi version of Islam into the Islamic world. So far, this is a well-known fact and an expectable reaction from secular groups when it comes to Saudi Arabia.
But, many people fail to notice that the average Turkish Sunni is probably more critical towards Saudi Arabia than any other Sunni-majority nation in the Islamic world. The conservative, Sunni, non-urban classes in our society are evaluating Wahabism as a perverted form of Islam. They're disgusted by the Saudi hostility towards science and their reliance on Western powers. Even hardcore Sunni Islamist groups in Turkey adore nations like Japan, South Korea and Germany for their technological and industrial advance.
Turkish polls regularly indicate that these three countries are the most respected and favored ones in Turkey. But don't misunderstand this mindset as a positive ideological response to Kemalism. It's quite the opposite. They may adore Japan but they hate the Kemalistic approach of social progressivity. Islamists from Anatolia and the Balkan peninsula are favoring the Japanese model over Atatürk's reforms. For instance, the Bosniac leader Alija Izetbegović, who is very popular among Turkish Islamists, wrote in his book "Islamic Declaration" that Kemalist Turkey- contrary to expectations - is a poor example for social and political modernization processes. He argued that Kemalist reformers are denying the traditional, religious and historical uniquenesses of Islamic societies. He also preferred Japan over Turkey as a role model of development.
There are plenty of other reasons why Turks don't like the House of Saud. It may sound harsh but seeing Saudi tourists in Turkey are reminding people of all the terrible and wrong doings in the Islamic world. Saudi Arabia and Iran are two cautionary tales for conservative and secular Turkish citizens at the same time. Both groups in Turkey can't agree on a common social contract but they both reject the Saudi and Iranian models.
The typical Turkish citizen regardless of his confession and political worldview doesn't understand why "Arabs" are so incompetent and incapable with that gigantic amount of money they have. Hate, anger and disappointment are a very dangerous mixture.
And, yeah, it sounds silly but they feel embarrassed. I would even say it is a form of vicarious embarrassment. They are worried that tourists from Europe, Asia and America perhaps can't differentiate between us and Saudi tourists.
Of course, some parts of this article linked above are bull. Comparing Atatürk and Luther? Oh boy...
i have exam tomorrow and all the days of this week
