Press Hails Historic Turkey-Armenia Pact

CAIRO — The Turkish press hailed on Sunday, October 11, an historic accord to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia and end decades of hostility, though some remain skeptical the deal would be successful. "An historic signature," read the headline of the liberal Radikal daily.

The accord was signed late Saturday, October 10, by Armenian Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandian and Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in a huge ceremony in Zurich attended by many western leaders.

"A door has been opened slightly to resolve a problem that we thought was unsolvable, so deep are its roots plunged into our history," said the editorial of the Yeni Safak.

"We can hope."

Relations between the two countries have long been haunted by whether et hnic Armenians killed during WWI were victims of systematic genocide or not.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people were systematically killed by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917 as their empire fell apart.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with the invading Russian troops.

The deal faced a possible last minute hitch over the content of the speeches by both sides in the ceremony.

While Armenia insisted on using the word genocide referring to World War I killings, Turkey pressed for referring to the Armenia backed occupation of Nagorny Karabakh Azerbaijan's district.

The problem was solved thanks to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who managed to persuade both sides to cancel both speeches.

"Peace paid no heed to the crisis," the mass-market Sabah said referring to the three-hour delay.

Problems

With parliaments in both countries still to ratify the accord, some are very skeptical.

"With the Armenian parliament, the main obstacle is that the government won't get it passed without giving assurances that the genocide thesis will not be weakened," wrote Ulku Cakirozer.

Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia over Yerevan's campaign to have the killings recognized internationally as genocide -- a label Turkey strongly rejects.

But the issue of Nagorny-Karabakh is also a potential stumbling point.

"Everyone knows that getting the accords through the Turkish parliament is linked to an agreement with Armenia on the future of Nagorny Karabakh," said the Radikal.

Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised on Sunday concerns over the disputed Nagorny-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, which has long been one of the stumbling blocks toward reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.

"We want all the borders to be opened at the same time..., but as long as Armenia has not withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory that it is occupying, Turkey cannot have a positive attitude on this subject."

Armenia has rejected any link between Nagorny-Karabakh and its reconciliation efforts with Turkey.

Backed by Yerevan, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed 30,000 lives.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan over the conflict.

Erdogan said his government would submit the new pacts to parliament, but warned of potential problems.

“But our deputies, in order to ratify them, are undoubtedly going to ask about the Armenian-Azerbaijani question," he said.

“If Azerbaijan and Armenia begin to look for a resolution to their problems, public opinion here will have a greater appreciation of the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations. And that will facilitate the ratification of the protocols by parliament."

Azerbaijan has already slammed Turkey for agreeing to normalize ties with Armenia, warning that opening Armenian-Turkish border could cause instability in the volatile South Caucasus.

Source: IslamOnline

| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |

Iraqis Shocked as Atheism Creeps in

BAGHDAD – Although their number remains insignificant and most of them hid their identity, the fact that some people are leaving Islam and becoming atheists is a troubling news in conservative Iraq. “I was surprised a couple of weeks ago when my son told me that his colleague at college told him that his father had become an atheist,” Sheik Abdul-Rassoul al-Rabia’a, a religion teacher at Baghdad University, told IslamOnline.

Not only did the father abandon his Muslim faith, he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.

“I suggested to my son bringing his friend home and talked with him that despite his father’s thinking, he should continue to follow his Muslim heart and never deny his God,” al-Rabia’a said.

Linking that to the non-stop violence plaguing the country since the 2003 US invasion, some Iraqis are becoming atheists.

Most of them have had personal incidents involving either themselves or close relatives.

“Iraq is a land without God or any other kind of major protective superior form,” claims one atheist who declined to be named fearing reprisal.

“We have been forgotten and it is better to think only rationally than emotionally. I left behind my old beliefs because it is the only way to protect my children from any harm that God isn’t being able to do.”

Yasser (not his real name) is grouping up with others who have also renounced their faiths.

“When we first decided to organise ourselves, we were only eight people,” he told IOL.

“And after seven months, our number has reached to 34 but many other groups are being formed countrywide according to my contacts in northern and southern Iraq.

“We believe that today in Iraq, there are at least 220 atheists linked to the groups nationwide.”

Caro (not his real name), 41, also claims their numbers are on the rise.

“Each day we are having more followers and maybe one day we will be able to have our own centre where we will be able to discuss our ideas and nature creation.”

Alien

Iraq in Focus (Special Page)

Iraqis say atheism is just so alien to conservative Iraq.

“If a westerner told me that he doesn’t believe in God, I would keep my mouth shut and never discuss it with him,” says Abdul-Rassoul al-Rabia’a.

“But when I hear that a born Muslim adopted atheism, I feel strong enough to help him find the true path.”

He believes the trend is becoming common in many regions in Iraq.

“No one is guiltier than the Americans who brought such ideas to Iraqis.”

Sara Waleed, 36, religion teacher at a primary school in Baghdad, says sometimes children ask her about atheism and say they heard the word from someone in the family who had become an atheist.

“Our kids today are different from before. They are aware of everything and are growing fast,” she told IOL.

“When I hear this I try to give a lesson that reinforces Islam so that the kids would not forget their origin.”

Yasser recognizes that what he and his friends are doing is alien to the conservative Iraqi society.

“It might be stranger for many people that a man who was raised in a very close Muslim tradition goes against his family and personal beliefs and create a group that doesn’t believe in a major creator.”

He blamed this on the war and its repercussions.

“Violence, religious differences, deaths, hunger, displacement and many other issues made me ask myself where God is,” he said.

Iraq fell into a bloody cycle of violence following the 2003 US invasion, leaving hundreds of thousands killed and maimed.

“I tried to find God during the last years,” says Yasser.

“I realised that he isn’t looking after us and instead we are moving ourselves according to the human nature and not an abstract force.”

But Waleed, the teacher, insists this is no reason to abandon one’s religion.

“I lost two brothers during the war and didn’t stop believing but instead my faith became stronger,” she said.

"I turned to Islam for my personal spiritual comfort."

Source: IslamOnline

| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |

Economy, War, Anger Fuel US Secession

WASHINGTON – Disgruntled by high taxes, wars in far-away countries, bailouts for fat-cat bankers, a growing number of Americans are pushing their states to defy federal laws and some are advocating secession. "Our government is operated and owned by Wall Street and corporate America,” Thomas Naylor, a retired economics professor who heads the Second Vermont Republic movement, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, October 11.

"The empire is going down -- do you want to go down with the Titanic, or seek other options while they are still on the table?"

The US fell into the grip of the worst economic crisis since 1930s in September after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank, and the financial woes of a number of Wall Street giants.

The fallout has developed into a full-fledged recession, threatening personal finances as home prices fall, retirement funds shrink and access to credit and jobs evaporate.

The recession, government growth and the explosion in federal spending are infuriating many Americans.

"The US government has lost its moral authority," says Naylor.

Twenty-five states have passed laws preventing the 2005 Real ID Act, which sets federal standards for identification cards, from being implemented.

Also, 13 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, in defiance of federal anti-drug regulations.

As tensions grow over health care reform, 15 states are pushing laws that would exempt them from federal health care regulations.

Montana and Tennessee have even passed laws exempting weapons and ammunition produced in their states from federal regulations.

Session

Some argue that secession is the cure for America’s problem. "There is more talk today about nullification (invalidating federal laws) and secession... than any time since 1865," said Kirkpatrick Sale, who heads the South Carolina-based Middlebury Institute, which studies separatism, secession, and self-determination.

Sale says there are active secessionist groups in at least 10 US states, including Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, and the US commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

"Secession is our only answer because our federal government is broken and cannot be repaired in the current political system," agrees Dave Mundy, a spokesman for the Texas Nationalist Movement.

The US is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district.

It was founded on July 4, 1776, by thirteen British colonies that defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War.

But Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845, as was Vermont from 1777 to 1791.

Texas last seceded in 1861, when it joined 10 other southern states to form the Confederate States of America.

The Civil War soon broke out, and four years a later, the union was restored.

J.R. Labbe, editorial director at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper, doubts secessionists can gain grounds.

"They are a minority voice whose time has come because of one thing: technology," she told AFP.

"Digital cameras that can upload images and soundbites -- and 24/7 news channels that are always looking for the most bizarre clip they can find -- have given them a much broader audience than they, or Texas, deserve."

Lyn Spillman, a specialist on nationalism at Notre Dame University, agrees.

"Considered generally, secession movements -- which are quite common in American history -- are extremely unlikely to have significant political consequences."

But Sale contends that a collapse of the dollar and anger over foreign wars, combined with calamitous climate change triggered by global warming, could push communities towards energy, water and food independence.

"A conjunction of events over the next few years might increase the talk about secession."

Source: IslamOnline

| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |

U.S. food festival unites religions

CAIRO – U.S. Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders are coming together this week in the south-central state of Oklahoma to break bread at an interfaith festival.

"We celebrate the differences between us, and all that we hold in common as well", Rev. Wendy Lambert, an associate pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church told NewsOK paper Saturday, October 10.

The church will host the “Food and Festival of Faith” on Wednesday, October 14, to showcase joint traditions between followers of the three faiths.

Participants will feature samples of different foods consumed by followers of the three faiths.

They will also learn about various Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions.

The participants will also come together at a workshop service combining the three faiths.

"We really believe that God calls us to live as people of peace," said Lambert.

* Common ground

The planned food festival is greeted as an engine for promoting integration.

"In order for us all to get to know each other and to get to know our traditions,” said Marjan Seirafi-Pour, a member of the Oklahoma City-area Muslim community.

“I think it’s very important to have events like this."

Seirafi-Pour reiterated her pleasure to be part of the festival bringing the three Abrahamic faiths together.

She believes such festivals help in bringing ideas and traditions closer to share a common ground.

Lambert agrees.

"We have neighbors of the Jewish and Muslim traditions," Lambert said.

"We believe this will be a fun night to celebrate together."

Many calls for interfaith dialogue were launched by groups representing the three religions following the September 11 attacks.

Last November, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz opened an international conference on promoting interfaith dialogue with the participation of several world leaders, including the Israeli president.

Earlier, King Abdullah presided over a Spain-hosted gathering of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists, which concluded with a call for greater cooperation among religions.

In 2007, some 138 Muslim scholars and dignitaries from around the world sent in October 2007 an open letter to the world's Christian clergy, including Pope Benedict, for dialogue based on commonalities between Islam and Christianity.

In February 2008, a galaxy of prominent Muslim scholars and interfaith experts issued an open letter for the world's Jewish community calling for a dialogue to improve relations between Jews and Muslims who have common ground of shared beliefs.

Source: IslamOnline

| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |