Latest on Turkey – May 15

There were fresh demonstrations in Izmir (Old Smyrna) last weekend. It involved several hundred thousand people marching in support of Turkey’s secular government on the waterfront part of this resort city where Polycarp (2nd Century Chrsitian Martyr) was from.

At one time, Izmir was among the most European of Turkish cities.

There also is an interesting story on Konya, one of the more traditionally Islamic cities in Central Turkey, a city I visited in 2005. It can be found at:

There were fresh demonstrations in Izmir (Old Smyrna) last weekend. It involved several hundred thousand people marching in support of Turkey’s secular government on the waterfront part of this resort city where Polycarp (2nd Century Chrsitian Martyr) was from.

At one time, Izmir was among the most European of Turkish cities.

There also is an interesting story on Konya, one of the more traditionally Islamic cities in Central Turkey, a city I visited in 2005. It can be found at:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/14/europe/turkey.php

The article explains the kind of cultural pressure that exists in Turkey and the debate going on there in a country that is more moderate in its Islamic expression.