Rumi Forum Podcast

Rumi Forum and the Institute for Islamic and Turkish Studies (IITS) held a panel on the role of community and faith leaders in countering radicalization on Sunday, April 12, 2015.

The Institute for Islamic and Turkish Studies and the Rumi Forum held a panel to discuss the role of community and faith leaders in countering extremism. As radical movements have become increasingly destructive, it is crucial to recognize how and why religion is twisted into a radical tool of conflict and divisiveness–especially since extremism is broadcasted globally through media. The moderator of the panel, Dr. Margaret Johnson, expressed her deep concerns of the abuses of religion and its destructive consequences, especially with regards to youths. How can radical groups like Boko Haram slit 43 young students’ throats? What are the origins of an un-Islamic group like Daesh (the Islamic State)? How can religious conflicts, such as those in the Yemeni Civil War, be avoided? The recognition and reconciliation of religious differences by leaders is crucial in order to prevent extremism and its consequential negative consequences.

Beginning the discussion was Rabbi Gerald Serotta, who is the Founding Executive Director of Clergy Beyond Borders, currently he serves as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. Rabbi Serotta outlined how the pluralism of Judaism is applicable and similar to other world religions. He said, “In terms of an organized world religion Judaism was first, and therefore had something of an advantage–if it chose to view Christianity and Islam as part of the story of what God wanted to do in the world.” Thus, he went on to explain, “God intended different spiritual paths to exist and coexist. Interreligious understanding, then, is necessary for their reconciliation and coexistence. The story of the Tower of Babel describes how God spread the people of Babel across the world to diversify their languages and religions so that they could recognize his glory more fully”. Rabbi Serotta indicated that this basic story is in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim texts, demonstrating that there are core similarities between religions, not just divisive differences that generate animosity and conflict. Therefore, “if we act with some humanity and humaneness in response to our connection with our enemies–that may shake them up a bit. This cognitive dissonance that can be created with generosity and common mourning is the answer to interfaith understanding and reconciliation”. He said, we must “offer the opportunity for dialogue – such as today – so that we can learn from each other and with each other to do what God wants most for humanity to do.”

Following Rabbi Serotta in the discussion was Gail Hambleton, the Vice President of the Global Peace Foundation (US), working Director of Interfaith Partnerships, as well as the National Director of the Safe Haven Campaign: Interfaith Alliance to Abolish Human Trafficking. “Today,” she began, “we can see through media how we are affecting each other. We can experience the diversity of humanity immediately. We may feel that people, perhaps not of our specific group, are so extremely different that we cannot bridge those differences.” Feeling so dissimilar to one another, people are therefore less certain of their lifestyles and their support systems in providing a sense of belonging.

“Technology brings us closer, but it also highlights our differences, and this is what must be overcome”. As Mrs. Hambleton indicated, terrorists, gangs, or other related groups are similar in their desire for meaning in their actions to fill the void they have from their lack of belonging or support, which results in their realization of the great differences between themselves and others. By invariably remaining within a social, religious, racial, or cultural group, a communication breakdown occurs between groups and conflicts arise, as Mrs. Hambleton observed during her time in Rwanda. When this conflict occurs, there is fighting, death, and destruction for all parties–everyone loses. To address this issue, the Global Peace Foundation has embraced the vision: ‘One family, under God’. She presented a solution in her thesis: ‘Social cohesion in diverse and pluralistic societies can be attained based on universal principles and shared values.’ The response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti exemplified how people – across religious, national, and racial lines – united to assist the Haitian people in a time of tragedy. Compassion, love, and faith are what enable mutual understanding. Recognizing and accepting universal values in religion and civic duty are what cultivate social cohesion, she concluded.

The final speaker of the panel was Imam Talib Sharif, President of the Nations Mosque, Masjid Muhammad. To begin, Imam Sharif cited Allah’s words just before the time of creation: “Come you together, willingly or unwillingly,” to which his creation said, “We come willingly.” Thus, God ended the chaos that was present before creation to create the world. This natural order, Imam Sharif explained, demonstrates that humans must live by the word of God, since that is what is natural and what inaugurated our existence. Our natural human identity is what supports and legitimizes other identities, so it is crucial that we recognize it to ensure humanity remains a socially cohesive, not fragmented into various groups. Humans come into the world with the most natural human tendencies: to smile, laugh, love – to connect to others. Over time, our childlike resilience is eroded, our peace of mind lost. He provided the example of Denver, Colorado, where he was a part of the Stop the Violence Campaign, addressing gang violence. In interviewing gang members, he found that they all joined to attain the sense of belonging and family that they evidently lost from their childhood. Imam Sharif said, “Everybody is crying out for something.” Extremists are doing the same, as they are “looking at some of the pictures that are affecting human life that are not getting enough attention.” In committing such heinous crimes, radicals lose their humanity and are divisive forces in society. Therefore, Imam Sharif believes, it is paramount that we stand firmly for justice to maintain our collective human identity, which is necessary for humanity to have peace amidst our diversity. He said, “In our nature, we all want justice,” and realizing that is the goal of interfaith dialogue.

Ihsan Yilmaz will talk about challenges to civil society, press freedom, freedom of speech and pluralistic democracy in the aftermath of the August presidential elections on Thursday, September 4,2014.

Other domestic issues such as the Kurdish issue and abuses of power against the individuals and civil society will be also covered. Dr Yilmaz will touch upon the foreign policy challenges as well, ranging from middle east to black sea.

Ihsan Yilmaz is Associate Professor of Political Science at Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey where he is also the Director of the PhD Programme in Political Science and International Relations at the university's Institute of Social Sciences. He received his BA in Political Science and International Relations from the Bosporus University in 1994 and completed his PhD at the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in 1999. He then worked at the University of Oxford as a Fellow between 1999 and 2001 and taught Turkish government and politics, legal sociology, comparative law and Islamic law at SOAS, University of London between 2001 and 2008. He was the Deputy Chair of the Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies at SOAS (2003-2008) and the Director of the London Centre for Social Studies (2003-2008). He is the author of (2005) Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey and Pakistan, Aldershot, Ashgate.

He is the editor of Turkish Journal of Politics (TJP). He has published his work in international scholarly journals such as British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Muslim World, International Journal of Turkish Studies, Journal for Islamic Studies, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Journal of Caucasian and Central Asian Studies, Journal of Economic and Social Research, International Law and Politics Journal, European Journal of Economic and Political Studies, Turkish Journal of Politics, Journal of Research Society of Pakistan, and Insight Turkey. He is a regular columnist of Today's Zaman, an English language daily published in Turkey. His current research interests are Islam-constitutional law-human rights; and Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan.

Rainer Hermann, the editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, begins his talk with a contextualization of what Turkey is now and how it came to be that way. At the fall of ‘old Turkey’ there was a void, with several different types of political groups vying for power. In the end however only republicanism was left unchallenged and what then began was the “golden age of the AK Party”. Hermann discussed the new government’s mission “to bring a homogenous Islam in order to shape a homogenous Turkish nation” (Hermann; 6:10).

The AKP used “pillars” of power to implement its republican ideology: military, judiciary, and bureaucracy. When AKP took control in 2003 after years of economic stagnation, the AKP was a huge success. And, during the “first decade of the AK Party rule, per capita income was tripled” (Hermann 8:02). On the political front, the AKP created a new civil society, brought Turkey closer to the EU, and made large investments in education and health system programs. Based off of these huge gains in growth, the first years of the party were a success; allowing a new middle class to emerge that was “hungry for both education and economic success”.

Overtime, however, maintaining such a high growth rate proved difficult and beginning around 2007 the rate of growth began to decrease. Around this time Erdogan and his party began to experience more opposition; two examples being the military attempt at creating the electronic memorandum and the near constitutional ruling to forbid the ruling AKP. “From then on the leadership of the AKparty went really hard on their internal adversaries” (Hermann; 11:00). This escalated as the leadership, namely Erdogan, sidelined the military and replaced judiciary judges and bureaucrats with his own men. It is at this point where the authoritarian tendencies we now see in Turkey began to flourish. This behavior from Erdogan continues with the protests in the summer of 2013, and further results in a series of hate speeches and witch-hunts. From this escalation we can discern that: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Hermann; 12:30). From Hermann’s impression and past experience with Erdogan, he tells us that the leader was once rather modest and took advice.

Now, however it is clear that Erdogan has become much more bold. As Hermann puts it, Turkey is “now back to square one” (Hermann 13:03). Erdogan has moved Turkey farther away from the European path and is beginning to look more similar to the authoritarian economic rising powers in Asia; perhaps this shift is an attempt to break Turkey out of the “middle-income trap”. Even so, Hermann does not see a likelihood for potential economic changes in Turkey now. However, Hermann does see a potential for change with Erdogan’s character as a leader. Throughout his political history, Erdogan has already had four major changes and therefore “there might be a Erdogan #5, because [he] doesn’t have an ideology. He is a shrewd politician” (Hermann; 16:01). What we are seeing now in Turkey is a one-man show. As Hermann comments, “I think Turkey is off the balance, because everyone is forced to go the way of Erdogan” for lack of another option.

During the Q&A portion of the talk, Hermann touched on the polarization of Turkey, the source of Erdogan’s unopposed power, and the direction Turkey is currently heading in. In response to a question about support for Erdogan in Turkey, Hermann replied, “Turkey is highly polarized with 50% of the population behind Erdogan and 50% against”. It now seems unclear as to whether the future of Turkey will follow along Erdogan’s current path, whether Erdogan will have another ideology change, or if a new coalition of opposition groups will find enough power to lead the government.

Rainer Hermann has been working as a journalist in Turkey and the Middle East for more than twenty years. As correspondent of the national German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” he has been living in Istanbul from 1991 until 2008, then he moved to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Since 2012 he is an op-ed editor at the daily’s headquarter in Frankfurt, Germany. Rainer Hermannhas studied economics and Middle Eastern studies in Freiburg (Germany), Rennes (France), Basel (Switzerland), and Damascus (Syria). He has an M.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies. In Germany he has published most recently “The Gulf States” (2011), in March his new German book “Final Destination Islamic State? State Failure and Religious War” will be on sale.

The political trial of Fethullah Gülen, a moderate Turkish religious scholar and leader, at the turn of the 21st Century, helped greatly to expand civil liberties and strengthen democracy in Turkey. The trial began in 2000 in an Ankara state security court (now disbanded) and ended in 2008 in an appeals court in Gülen’s favor. Jim Harrington explores Gülen’s trial, examines the evolving process of Turkey’s efforts to enter the European Union, and discusses ways that the EU’s insistence on expanding civil liberties in Turkey and reforming the judicial system affected the outcome of the trial (and vice versa). He also discusses how the Gülen movement has helped the progress of democracy and civil society in Turkey and its prospects for the future, especially in light of the current government’s sustained attacks on civil and human rights generally, and on Gulen himself and Hizmet in particular. Harrington provides helpful in-depth background information for understanding the Gülen-related Hizmet movement in Turkey and around the world and the civil society movement it fosters, as well as reasons for opposition to the movement, especially in Turkey. James C Harrington, a human rights attorney with nearly four decades of experience, is founder and director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. He graduated from the School of Law at the University of Detroit, from where he also holds a Masters in philosophy. He has taught at the University of Texas School of Law as an adjunct professor for twenty-six years. Harrington has handled landmark civil rights cases, written and published widely, and served on human rights delegations in different areas of the world.Jim Harrington was born in Lansing, Michigan, and received his law degree in 1973 from the University of Detroit, from where he also had earned a Master’s degree in philosophy (1969)

Ambassador Pavilionis, 42, is married to Lina Pavilioniene and has four sons. In 1993,

Pavilionis joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was instrumental in achieving

Lithuanian accession into NATO and the European Union. Between 1993 and 2009, he

has held various high-level positions in the Lithuanian MFA, most focused on Lithuania’s

relationship with the European Union. Most recently Ambassador Pavilionis acted as

Ambassador –at-Large and Chief Coordinator for Lithuania’s Presidency of the

Community of Democracies and Chief Coordinator for Transatlantic relations. He has a

Master’s Degree in Philosophy and PhD in Political Science. He pursued both degrees in

Vilnius University, Lithuania.

For half a millennium Central Asia was the center of the world, with a booming economy, vital urban life, and an intellectual life that bridged antiquity and the Renaissance. Because most of its scientists and thinkers wrote in Arabic it has been generally assumed that they were Arabs, and the specifically Central Asian setting of their lives and work ignored. Basing his presentation his new book, LOST ENLIGHTENMENT:CENTRAL ASIA'S GOLDEN AGE FROM THE ARAB CONQUEST TO TAMERLANE, FrederickStarr will present the main features of this lost golden age and consider what significance, if any, it has for the present.

S. Frederick Starr is the chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS. A former president of Oberlin College and the Aspen Institute, he was also founding chairman of the Kennan Institute in Washington and established the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the principal non-governmental funder of post-Katrina recovery in that city. He began his career in classical archaeology and has published 22 books. He is a trustee of the Nazarbayev University and was involved in planning four other universities in Central Asia and the Caucasus.