Ep 8: Mehmet Ozalp on middle eastern politics and activism

“People wanted democracy, freedom and progress. But authoritarian governments didn’t like it and in Syria, they didn’t relinquish power in peace and that started to cause civil war. And where there is civil war, resistance groups, insurgents, will emerge and some of these will be radical. The radical will take advantage of this to open up new ground for them, and Isis did.”

Mehmet shares his thoughts with host Wes Ward on the influences in the Middle East that can lead to extremism, how the West is involved, and why military solutions don’t work.

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp is a theologian, author and academic and the founding director of the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation (CISAC) at Charles Sturt. He is an executive member of Public and Contextual Theology (PaCT), a research centre at Charles Sturt.

Episode recorded: 26 April 2019

Host: Wes Ward, Charles Sturt Media

Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE

Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of terrorism and extremist ideology and events.