Friday, August 05, 2011

Turkey in the Modern World

The Cambridge History of Turkey: Volume 4, Turkey in the Modern Word covers the period from the nineteenth century to the resent day. This includes the turbulent period of the collapse of the Ottoman empire, the Young Turks, the Turkish Republic and militarily coups, the Kurdish and Islam issues. There is some repetition as authors on different topics cover the same period. I found the chaopted on the struggle for independence, art and novels and Istanbul of most interest. One point I would disagree with is Sibel Bozdoğan's description of the Kocatepe Mosque as being postmodern because it has a supermarket in the complex. Having a bazaar associated with a mosque was not unusual in ancient times to help pay for the upkeep of the building and the supermarket is essentially just a modern equivalent.

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