“My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the
dictates of truth, and the teachings of science. Superstition must go.
Let them worship as they will, every man can follow his own conscience
provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him act against
the liberty of his fellow men.” — Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Hardly surprising, deeply upsetting, and geostrategically
catastrophic, it’s official. Turkey has now passed over towards being an
Islamist state. That turning point is marked by a tiny event of
gigantic importance.
Fazil Say is an internationally acclaimed Turkish classical pianist.
He has performed with prestigious symphony orchestras such as the New
York Philharmonic, Berlin, Israel Philharmonic, France, and Tokyo, and
is a European Union cultural ambassador. The Turkish state is now going
to put him on trial, as an Istanbul court has accepted the prosecutor’s charge, which amounts to heresy. Specifically: he is accused of insulting Islam because of tweets he sent.
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