The State of Israel has known about the existence of Median Jewry for half a decade now, yet has remained quiet on the subject so as not to antagonize the Erdogan regime in Ankara considering that the vast majority of Median Jews in the Middle East live within the boundaries of the Republic of Turkey.Continue reading “What is Israel’s Strategy on Median Jewry?”
Category Archives: Turkey
Median Jews are not Muslims
Islam is a religion with four branches, Sunni, Shia, Ibadi (in Oman) and Mutazili. There are four surviving schools (Arabic: madhhab) within Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (Arabic: fiqh). These are Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi’i. In addition are there the heterodox Sunni Ahmadiyya who believe that the expected Mahdi (messiah) has already arrived. Ahmadiyya are neverthelessContinue reading “Median Jews are not Muslims”
Liberalization without Suppressing Religion
Secularism in Turkey and Iran during the 20th century was anti-religious in actively trying to limit the extent of religion in society. This led to a backlash in Islamists coming to power. The secularization policies of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi were in this sense clearly counterproductive. However, their respective heritage remains aliveContinue reading “Liberalization without Suppressing Religion”