The Change

Turkey is changing. Day by day and moment by moment, the Turkey that we thought we knew is disappearing and a new one is taking its place. Doğu Ergil guides us through this change by presenting a complex mosaic of essays covering every corner of Turkish politics and society. From the Kurdish issue, to the role of women in a new Turkey, to terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the intrigues of the ruling AK Party and its interactions with the opposition parties of Turkey, Ergil leaves no stone unturned. In a constant flux, Turkey is moving to and fro under the cross-pressures of modernization, urbanization and globalization. Under such circumstances, it is not hard to see contrasting modes of behavior and values existing at the same time. The modern and the traditional, the rural and the urban, the secular and the non-secular coexist sometimes peacefully, sometimes in tension. All of these contrasts are interwoven into a broad canopy that makes up what is most commonly called Turkey. The reader will witness this enormous in the making across many articles, while observing how a country of 72 million is trying to adapt to modern times while bringing along values, practices and institutions that are older than most of the nations on our planet. Observing such a task is like watching Sisyphus at work.