*** CAN BÜYÜKBAY: Euroscepticism in Turkey. Power and Beyond. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, P.O. Box 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2015, 267 pp. ISBN 978-3-631-66685-2.
Can Büyükbay is a political scientist at the Turkish-German University of Istanbul. In this resolutely scientific book, he provides an extremely useful examination of the way in which the discourse of Euroscepticism has taken shape in civil society. His approach is also relevant to an increasing number of countries but he specifically focuses on Turkey, in light of its possible long term accession to the European Union. He also looks at the ongoing political struggles occurring in the different political camps in Turkey and the general discourse that this issue is provoking in the Western world. The study is based on interviews with leaders from civil society organisations and also provides a critical analysis that helps us to better understand how the leaders of Turkish civil society see Europe and interpret its own possible participation in European integration.
One of the main lessons the author draws, also highlights the multiple strategies that Eurosceptic forces put forward in Turkey. These vary according to their ideological background and the positive or negative attitude they have to the relationship with the AKP party in power. From this scenario, he deduces that a similar diversity is also present amongst Eurosceptics elsewhere in Europe, which is why he believes a more comprehensive approach is required for better understanding the concept of Euroscepticism. He also points out that conservative interlocutors are demanding that Islam uses the terms "Europe", "European Union" and the "West" interchangeably, which he believes demonstrates the way in which the conservative-Islamic movement sees the European Union as more of a cultural structure and specific civilisation than a supranational political body. On the other hand, in the discourse emanating from the Kemalists, Alevis and leftists, a link is established between the Union and the AKP, which they perceive as "representatives of neoliberal values". They explain this by the fact that the Union has consistently supported the party of President Erdogan since his arrival in power. Another observation made is that Turkish society does not see the European Union as a homogenous entity but rather, as a mosaic of different political leanings and interests. Finally, the author also highlights the use within the Islamic-Conservative party of multiple references to the Ottoman world, which tends to give credibility to the Erdogan regime when juxtaposed with Europe. Pierre Bouvier
*** GÜRKAN CELIK, JOHAN LEMAN, KAREL STEENBRINK (Editors): The Western Journey of a Turkish Muslim Movement. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (1 rue Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2015, 311 pp. ISBN 978-2-87574-275-9.
The Hizmet movement created by Fethullah Gülen in Turkey in the 1960s now has roots in more than 160 countries. The members of Hizmet Muslim Movement constitute one of the least visible Muslim minorities in Western societies. They do not build mosques or organise prayer meetings, contrary to the Sufi masters or Muslim adherents of institutional Islam. On the other hand, they open schools that seek to provide empowerment, without any religious teaching. They also develop business networks, publish the Zaman Journal, which consists of different national versions; manage charity organisations that promote dialogue, as well as intercultural and interreligious reconciliation. They meet up in small groups in individuals' homes to organise sohbets, spiritual conversations about faith, religion and society, as well as to discuss projects relating to the Hizmet movement in light of the lessons given by par Fethullah Gülen in his books and public speeches.
The first part of this book provides a general presentation of the thought and practices of Fethullah Gülen and also looks at the intellectual, theological, economic and socio-political aspects of his thought. The second part provides six case studies looking at different countries in which this former ally of President Erdogan (now regarded as a black sheep) is involved in a wide range of social activities in the areas of education, media, enterprise, dialogue, support for integration and the defence of human rights. These countries include Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Albania. Despite the fact that there are relatively few members of Hizmet and they work in a very decentralised way, they enjoy the support of some of the most knowledgeable and socially involved individuals within the Turkish speaking communities in their respective countries. The study also illustrates the fact that this movement cannot be regarded in one of the pre-established traditional categories of thought and can therefore not be described as either "Conservative", "progressive" or "fundamentalist", etc. (PLa)
*** IOANNIS GRIGORIADIS: La religion et le nationalisme en Grèce et en Turquie: une « sainte entente ». Éditions Epikentro (9 rue Kamvounion, GR-54621 Salonika. Tel: (30-231) 0256146 - fax: 0256148 - email: http://www.epikentro.gr ). 2015, 266 pp. €17. ISBN 978-960-458-572-4.
In this publication, the deputy Professor of the Department of Political Science at the University of Bilkent in Ankara explores the evolution in the role of religion in the shaping of Greek and Turkish identities. Over approximately a century, Greek and Turkish nationalisms shifted from outright hostility towards religion to a "holy understanding" arising from the "observation" that nation and religion are not enemies but indeed complementary to each other. As pointed out by the author, who is also a researcher at the Greek Foundation of European Foreign Policy, religion has provided its symbolism to the nationalism developed in each of these two countries and has helped towards the construction of it in both nations. Today, religion is still the main criteria for defining the respective Greek and Turkish people. At the close of this first comparative study of the role of Islam and orthodoxy in the configurations of these two nationalisms, the author argues that the rise in power of the religious factor in each of these countries can be understood as the result of the absolute determination to ensure the integration of the people around religious values, with the inevitable implications that result from this at a level of ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity. (AKa)
*** ANDREAS THEOFANOUS: La gouvernance et l'économie politique d'une fédération chypriote. Editions Sideris (116 rue Solonos, GR-10681 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3833434 - fax: 3832294 - Email: contact@isideris.gr). 2016, 292 pp. €18. ISBN 978-960-080725-7.
Any normalisation in the relations between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey will have positive results. This would also be the same if a federal solution reunifying the island were found. Nonetheless, Ankara and Turkish Cypriot leaders are sticking to the idea that a solution that sees the Republic of Cyprus being replaced by a new state entity founded on two mutually endorsed constituants. This approach based on improving the status quo and, subsequently, the economic situation, would be fatal, irreversible and dangerous. This is argued by Professor Andreas Theofanous who believes that it is doubtful, indeed impossible, to imagine Cyprus in the Eurozone on such a basis. In his view, negotiations must be based on the national pillars of a federal and/or religious structure pertaining to the concept of "consensual democracy". He also believes that it is necessary to develop a high degree of tolerance in order to facilitate acceptable compromises by the two sides. He also believes it imperative to reject models that generally lead to dysfunction, friction and frustration, such as the negative example provided by Bosnia. What is needed, on the contrary, is to strive towards the construction of a unifying federal framework based on affordable administrative costs and which encourages the formulation of common objectives. The author ultimately highlights the importance of developing a process of evolution that facilitates regional adjustments as well as other changes. The book also contains a highly comprehensive bibliography. (AKa)
*** NORBERT EITELHUBER: Russland im 21. Jahrhundert. Reif für eine multipolare Welt? Eine Analyse der strategischen Kultur Russlands und das daraus abgeleitete Erfordernis einer konfliktsensiblen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik gegenüber Russland. Peter Lang (See address attached). « Sicherheit in der multipolaren Welt » series, No. 3. 2015, 484 pp.. ISBN 978-3-631-66946-4.
With the goal of answering the question posed in the title of his thesis, namely, the ability of Russia to become an international actor on the multipolar world stage of the 21st-century, Norbert Eitelhuber seeks to place Russia in an appropriate position in order to understand its perception of the world around it. To achieve this task, he rejects the neo-realist approaches which, according to him, only have a very limited explicative value that helps shed light on the deep-seated motives for action realised within the framework of Russian external policy. On the contrary, he prefers a culturally-based approach that seeks to identify the strategic culture of Russia itself. After explaining the reasons for this choice, he provides a definition of Russian strategic culture throughout its history and points out the main concepts forming the basis of current Russian foreign policy. He considers that the collapse of the Soviet Union constituted a fundamental breach in Russian strategic culture and subsequently reduced the importance of the military factor in the general conception of foreign policy. The author believe that this provides the West with an opportunity, particularly because Russia has in fact abandoned any imperial concepts of its potential power and has adopted a "soft power" approach as its mode for action. Norbert Eitelhuber concludes his thesis on the premise that if the international community is prepared to accept a multipolar world and meet Russia's legitimate desire to be recognised, it is subsequently possible to avoid a return to confrontation with this country.
At a methodological level, the author certainly compromises his approach, due to his lack of knowledge of the Russian language, for reasons that are easy to understand but also because publications in Russian speaking countries (Russia and the former Soviet countries) and in other languages in these countries sometimes seek to provide an erroneous image of the real situation. Nonetheless, Norbert Eitelhuber partly succeeds in overcoming this obstacle by way of providing a comprehensive and well-documented bibliography, as well as by making references to the sources translated from Russian. His general approach is to provide a theoretical thesis and a subsequently practical guide to overcoming certain clichés about Russia and gett to grips with certain elements in Russian civilisation. It is also interesting to observe the culturally-based approaches highlighting political culture are frequently adopted in political sociology and Russian speaking countries. Should this work be considered as another indication of the "successful impregnation" of Russian culture by the author? (GLe)
*** ILIAS THERMOS: Les révolutions dans le 20ème siècle: la Russie, la Chine, le Vietnam, Cuba. Editions Sideris (see address attached). 2015, 352 pp. €18. ISBN 978-960-08-0697-7.
This is a publication by an emeritus professor who has headed the Department of international political studies and European economics at the University of Macedonia. It was devised as an exhaustive and critical study of the major events of the last century, such as the revolutions of the oppressed peoples of Russia, China, Vietnam and Cuba and as envisaged as the historical legacy of Lenin. As pointed out by the author, the Russian revolution, at the end of the First World War, put Marxist critical thinking into practice and argued that colonialism and imperialism were the fault of capitalism. Global competition between capitalist powers during a predominantly European Epoque, led to the First World War. The central strategy of Vladimir Lenin was to overthrow world capitalism tthrough the revolution of the proletariat and its replacement elsewhere in the world by people's revolutions that were supposed to spread socialism by profoundly transforming capitalist societies. According to Ilias Thermos, the propagation of Lenin's thought and the ideas of the Russian Revolution successfully found fertile soil in the countries suffering under the colonial regimes, such as China and Indochina and/or the repressive systems, such as in pre-revolutionary Cuba. He therefore argues that the Chinese Communist revolution that lasted from 1927 to 1949, under the leadership of Mao Zedong was indeed a child of the Russian Revolution. To the leader of the Vietnamese revolution, Ho Chi Minh and the revolutionary leadership of Cuba, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, Leninist thought provided the compass for ideological orientation and political action. Ilias Thermos concludes that Lenin's thought has left world political thought with a sustainable heritage, similarly to that provided by Aristotle, Machiavelli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, not to mention Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. (AKa)