Mufti, anyone?
We started the day at the medrese (school) finishing our Turkish history time line. Finally, I scavenged the intelligence and courage to engage in our discussions in class. I think that I definitely added to our dialogue of the reasons for the consistent turmoil Turkey continually found itself in. After this we went to Suliyemaniye to meet with Istanbul's mufti (head of the department of religious affairs in Istanbul).
The mufti had previously met with the Pope two years before! Our meeting with him was met with a barrage of less-than-intelligent questions from the two other groups we were with. The questions were extremely antagonistic, attacking the mufti and the Turkish government. Our group agreed that our representation was hurt by the unintelligent inquiries. Luckily, the last question was uttered from a member of our group and had some semblance of intelligence. And good thing that person was me. :) After the mufti we headed over to Yildiz University, our third institution of higher education during our 4th week in Istanbul.
We met with Professor Gulalp, current dean of the Political Science department, as well as former professor of sociology and political science. Our time with Professor Gulalp was quite interesting as he allayed our prognostications of civil unrest if the AKP party were overthrown by the Supreme Court. He also helped us understand the Turkish bureaucracy by placing it within the context of Rousseau's Social Contract. Rousseau made a distinction between the General Will (good of the people) and the Will of the People (what the people wanted). In application, a government is to act for the General Will even though it may be contrary to the popular will. In Turkey, the military represents the General Will, stepping in when the elected governments (Will of the People) stray too far from Kemalism (the paradigmatic ideology of Ataturk Kemal). This interpretation of Rousseau was extremely interesting--it put Turkey into a context that I could understand. Then the question arose, "If the military determines the General Will, what prevents it from decreeing an incorrect General Will?" Professor Gulalp said there was no way of ensuring the General Will be carried out. Questions continued and came to an end with another one of my questions. After Professor Gulalp, we had dinner at Professor Shields's house--an amazing event in and of itself.
After dinner we stumbled across Prostitute Lane, 1 lira Efes (Turkish beer), and a bowling alley. A great end to a great day!
The mufti had previously met with the Pope two years before! Our meeting with him was met with a barrage of less-than-intelligent questions from the two other groups we were with. The questions were extremely antagonistic, attacking the mufti and the Turkish government. Our group agreed that our representation was hurt by the unintelligent inquiries. Luckily, the last question was uttered from a member of our group and had some semblance of intelligence. And good thing that person was me. :) After the mufti we headed over to Yildiz University, our third institution of higher education during our 4th week in Istanbul.
We met with Professor Gulalp, current dean of the Political Science department, as well as former professor of sociology and political science. Our time with Professor Gulalp was quite interesting as he allayed our prognostications of civil unrest if the AKP party were overthrown by the Supreme Court. He also helped us understand the Turkish bureaucracy by placing it within the context of Rousseau's Social Contract. Rousseau made a distinction between the General Will (good of the people) and the Will of the People (what the people wanted). In application, a government is to act for the General Will even though it may be contrary to the popular will. In Turkey, the military represents the General Will, stepping in when the elected governments (Will of the People) stray too far from Kemalism (the paradigmatic ideology of Ataturk Kemal). This interpretation of Rousseau was extremely interesting--it put Turkey into a context that I could understand. Then the question arose, "If the military determines the General Will, what prevents it from decreeing an incorrect General Will?" Professor Gulalp said there was no way of ensuring the General Will be carried out. Questions continued and came to an end with another one of my questions. After Professor Gulalp, we had dinner at Professor Shields's house--an amazing event in and of itself.
After dinner we stumbled across Prostitute Lane, 1 lira Efes (Turkish beer), and a bowling alley. A great end to a great day!
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