The Turks and Persians (amongst others) always resent it when they get lumped in with the Arabs just because they are all Muslims. They get especially offended when ignorant foreigners actually call them Arabs. Thus it's no surprise to read the following opinion piece published in Turkey on the website for Hurriyet Daily News.
It reminds me of when I was in Turkey and I heard an American make an observation to a Turk along these lines (I can't remember the exact words)What Muslims world? As well meaning as it sounds, the term "Muslim world" is a trap. The president should disown this term... No one would creditably argue that Guatemalans, Germans, or Guineans are the same because they are Christians, and it's as nonsensical to lump Turks, Trinidadians, and Tunisians together simply because they also happen to be Muslim...
This term is not only an analytical error, but also a critical public diplomacy mistake. Islamic ideologues are the only group that strongly advocates the belief that all Muslims belong to a politically united global community... A Muslim World is Al-Qaeda's conception.
The Turk was most emphatic on this point. He later went on to lecture us about how Turkey is the exact opposite of the Saudi or Iranian models which are essentially theocratic nations, while Turkey presents an alternate in which predominantly Muslim countries can choose the path of secular democracy. This was his view, not mine. I know that Turkey has its own problems, but I think it presents a better model than most of the other options.American: "I'm surprised at a lot of what I see here. It's not at all what I expected in a Muslim country."
Turk: "Turkey is not a Muslim country! It is a secular republic in which 90-something percent of the country happen to be Muslim!"
A Muslim World is Al-Qaeda’s conception.
I like that.
In a related thought, I wonder how much our idea of an "Arab World" is is a conception of Gamal Abd al-Nasser and the rest of the Arab nationalists. I suppose organizations like the Arab League make it more of a real entity.
Heh, that makes me think of an old Arabic instructor of mine, a Sudanese academic who would always decry the Arab League as "a fundamentally rrrrracist organization! What would people think if all the European countries agreed to vote together at the UN as 'the White League'?" He's got a point.
Comment by Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake — June 4, 2009 @ 12:43 am
What makes a country "Arab"? That it speaks Arabic, I guess.
By that measure, the only Arabs before Muhammad's time were people living on the Arabian Peninsula. So it surprised me greatly once to hear at the end of a BBC radio program about Ancient Egypt: "Those ancient Arabs were very clever."
Someone at the BBC was definitely not very clever.
Comment by Lentz of Goulburn — June 4, 2009 @ 5:39 am
Snake ... (I thought you were dead) ... great comment! Looks like you've had a fascinating life.
Lentz ... ha! Don't tell the Copts! It also means USA is an English country too. Well, the declaration of independence was a bad idea in the first place.
Comment by Filthy Stinking No.9 — June 4, 2009 @ 6:12 am
Careful there, #9! Someone might point a Roman candle in your direction on the 4th of July! (What a great invention, I might add! Those ancient Romans were very clever.)
Comment by Professor X — June 5, 2009 @ 5:04 am