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vecchias's review
Özal ve 2002-2007 demokrasi şöleni övgülerinden ve Beyaz Saray sözcülüğünden fırsat kalan kısımlar sıkıştırılmış bir son 30-35 yıl TR özeti, bir hatırlatıcı.
misspalah's review
3.0
“In 1934 Atatürk learned that a ship carrying relatives of fallen Allied soldiers had docked near Gallipoli and that its passengers were mourning at the site. He sent them a moving message that is now chiseled, in English translation, into a memorial stone there. "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives," he wrote, "you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us, where they lie side by side in this country of ours . .. You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."
- Crescent and Star : Turkey - Between 2 worlds by Stephen Kinzer
.
.
I don’t really like reading a history of one’s country that was not written or narrated by their own people. This is because - for the most part - their perception and remarks as an outsider always ticked me off . What’s weird is i always found this problem more apparent among American and European writers. Call me close minded for all i care but that’s what i felt when i almost finished this book. This whole notion wanted another country (in this case Turkey) to be more westernised / liberated or modernised is so cringey. Imperialist much? Listen, I bought this book simply because i wanted to learn Turkey / Turkiye History. I have always been fascinated by this country and I have admired Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for his stance in ensuring secularism is being solidified in his country administration and at the same time, kept religion at bay. This admiration of mine unfortunately didn’t receive well by some of my friends and family members but it is what it is. Then, when i saw this book at the bargain box in a bookstore, i bought it right away. Unfortunately, i wish i read other ‘better’ book about Turkey instead of this one. Note : since this book is being published in 2001, and Turkey has changed its name to Turkiye recently, my review might be using Turkey as to accommodate the publication year. I have to admit that i learned a lot - history (From Ottoman empire even to the controversial of Armenian Genocide) to the love-hate dynamics between Turks and Greeks , political sect and affiliation (Kemalist versus Islamist) to the odd equation of power between military and bureaucrats and even local delicacies and nature (the beauty of Bosphorus) of this great country because Stephen Kinzer is after all, a former New York Times Correspondent. He knows how to write brilliantly, that i can admit but when it comes to his personal opinion or how his experience living in a Turkey, immersing himself in the culture or observing the common people, it has that condescending tone and somewhat rude. I am nowhere a big fan of religion but one can see how the author disdained Islam and his analysis on Islam and Autocratic in Turkey sometimes contradict each other (at one point Islam is said to be problematic in Turkey and Military did well to control it but on another military control should not exist in a true democratic government) which begged the question of authenticity in his writing. The book for the most part is not in chronological order and if this is the first history book that you read of Turkey, you will get confused like i did. It took about 50 pages to get used to the style. Some of the chapters can be jarring and remember, some of the analysis is outdated as Turkey has changed a lot over the years. Overall, i am not sure whether i wanted to recommend this book or not to others. I think it may works well for people who already know about Turkey and wanted to refresh their memory of this country or those who wanted to read about Turkey from the American Lens.
- Crescent and Star : Turkey - Between 2 worlds by Stephen Kinzer
.
.
I don’t really like reading a history of one’s country that was not written or narrated by their own people. This is because - for the most part - their perception and remarks as an outsider always ticked me off . What’s weird is i always found this problem more apparent among American and European writers. Call me close minded for all i care but that’s what i felt when i almost finished this book. This whole notion wanted another country (in this case Turkey) to be more westernised / liberated or modernised is so cringey. Imperialist much? Listen, I bought this book simply because i wanted to learn Turkey / Turkiye History. I have always been fascinated by this country and I have admired Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for his stance in ensuring secularism is being solidified in his country administration and at the same time, kept religion at bay. This admiration of mine unfortunately didn’t receive well by some of my friends and family members but it is what it is. Then, when i saw this book at the bargain box in a bookstore, i bought it right away. Unfortunately, i wish i read other ‘better’ book about Turkey instead of this one. Note : since this book is being published in 2001, and Turkey has changed its name to Turkiye recently, my review might be using Turkey as to accommodate the publication year. I have to admit that i learned a lot - history (From Ottoman empire even to the controversial of Armenian Genocide) to the love-hate dynamics between Turks and Greeks , political sect and affiliation (Kemalist versus Islamist) to the odd equation of power between military and bureaucrats and even local delicacies and nature (the beauty of Bosphorus) of this great country because Stephen Kinzer is after all, a former New York Times Correspondent. He knows how to write brilliantly, that i can admit but when it comes to his personal opinion or how his experience living in a Turkey, immersing himself in the culture or observing the common people, it has that condescending tone and somewhat rude. I am nowhere a big fan of religion but one can see how the author disdained Islam and his analysis on Islam and Autocratic in Turkey sometimes contradict each other (at one point Islam is said to be problematic in Turkey and Military did well to control it but on another military control should not exist in a true democratic government) which begged the question of authenticity in his writing. The book for the most part is not in chronological order and if this is the first history book that you read of Turkey, you will get confused like i did. It took about 50 pages to get used to the style. Some of the chapters can be jarring and remember, some of the analysis is outdated as Turkey has changed a lot over the years. Overall, i am not sure whether i wanted to recommend this book or not to others. I think it may works well for people who already know about Turkey and wanted to refresh their memory of this country or those who wanted to read about Turkey from the American Lens.
cindie's review
4.0
Grabbed this book for 50c at a library book sale - I knew it was written in 2001 and so would only serve as a snapshot in time, but it was still interesting to paint a picture and to look back on all that has happened since. Erdogan does feature once, early in the book, with a quick mention of him as a former mayor of Istanbul.
thomcat's review
3.0
I learned a lot about the history of Turkey that wasn't covered in European History or other texts. The author has a passion for Turkey and presented well, though with an annoying tendency to talk of what Turkey should do. Either pure history or pure narrative would have worked better for me - I found the mix jarring, and this is most of why a 240 page book took more than a month to finish. Slightly interested in his newest book; may seek out his journalism first.
bobbo49's review
4.0
I only wish that Kinzer had written this brilliant history of modern Turkey in 2016 instead of 2001, since the ensuing 15 years has brought so many more chapters to the story. This is an outstanding background for anyone interested in understanding modern Turkey; I will have to find a more current work of equal depth and scope to bring me up to date on this most central of countries in the evolution of the modern world.
tanyarobinson's review
4.0
I finished this book just before takeoff on my trip to visit this beautiful country, and it made me feel so anxious to experience Turkey! Between Crescent and Star was so readable, so informative, and just so interesting. The author shares his love for the land, yet still presents an objective view of its politics and recent history. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this bridge not only between east and west, but between the ancient and modern world.
cneiman's review
Kinzer's account of Turkey is intriguing and yet surprisingly dull--it may not be worth cracking open if you don't already have basic knowledge of Turkey's modern history. It's also extremely repetitive--I eventually put it down with three chapters to go just because I didn't think I was going to get any new information.
bluepigeon's review
4.0
Kinzer is a great writer and a good storyteller. He alternates cultural mini-chapters with more analytical writing in Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds. As a Turk who was heavily brainwashed with the "official history of the country during and post-Ataturk", there is much I can and should read, and this book is a good starting point. I can write a whole other book as a response to Kinzer's very insightful study, but for the most part I agree with the bulk of his criticisms and analyses. Kinzer may love Turkey, but he does not hold back in his criticism of blind Kemalism, the iron fist of the military over civilian rule, and the current national pains, such as the ethnic problems the government has with Kurds, with Armenians, with Greece, etc. For years I have resisted reading about recent Turkish history, because I find it hard to believe anyone that I read. There is certainly a good amount of anti-Turkish propaganda in the Western world (a la Midnight Express) and inside Turkey the restrictions on free speech make it hard to get an unbiased view. So Kinzer, as a foreigner who loves Turkey, is a good place to start.
One thing that I want to point out is that even though Kinzer portrays Turgut Ozal as a revolutionary leader who was one of the few modern leaders of Turkey to see its full potential in the 21st century, Ozal's highly capitalist [and nepotist] shift inoculated a deep and powerful corruption in the government that Turkey, to this day, suffers from. Related to Turgut Ozal, and many other leaders of modern Turkey, the baffling question I have always had and to this day cannot really understand, is how so many Kurds can serve in the government and parliament as elected officials, so many Kurds can become very rich business man, entertainers, actors, singers, writers, and Turkey still struggles to find a healthy ground for communication about the Kurdish-Turkish issues? To explain away this discrepancy by just blaming the oppression of free speech seems inadequate.
Overall, Crescent and Star was a pleasure to read. At times, Kinzer becomes a bit repetitive, but his anecdotal references to conversations with Turks from different walks of life and with foreign officials about Turkey are priceless. His obsession, like most Americans and Westerners, of democracy is a bit optimistic, idealistic, and something that I do not completely agree with.
I will try to read Kinzer's more recent books about Turkey and the Middle East. I would like to hear what he has to say about the current political rule in Turkey, as it seems to be what he was wishing for in Crescent and Star, but I am not sure that now that it is happening, he would still wish for it. He got his pro-EU, pro-ethnic dialogue, non-Kemalist, pro-religion government that is trying very hard to turn Turkey into the next EU member. Some things are radically different. For example, now that the ban on the Kursdish language is lifted, radios and TVs broadcasting in Kurdish have sprouted all over, and artists are clamoring to record Kurdish songs and establish collaborations (Aynur Dogan's Kece Kurdan is a good album to start. And of course, Ibrahim Tatlises is not only the most famous Kurdish singer but one of the most famous Turkish singers of all time) On the other hand, Europe is busy passing laws banning head scarves and mosques with minarets, things that Turkey was criticized for doing. Once again, the double standards are apparent, as Turkey is always blamed to be violating human rights (I am not saying that it isn't!) while European countries restrict religious and cultural freedoms as they see fit (and let's not forget the non-secularist stuff, like "In God We Trust" on American bills.) The truth of the matter is the Islamic Fundamentalism that the aptly-criticized Turkish military was always paranoid about has shown its ugly head and this time threatening the Western world, and so *now* it is OK to try to crush Islamic extremism by restricting civil rights... What happened to open dialogue, the communication that Turkish government was always urged to engage in with what it considered extremists? I can imagine some Turkish generals nodding with a shrug to the West: We told you so! Perhaps Kinzer is right in that Turkey is at a unique position to bring together the troubled sides and end the chaos that is currently taking place in the world. But I find that hard to believe, as any issue about Islam is bound to polarize Turks. In the end, I think the ethnic problems can be overcome, but the issues over religion are going to get worse before they get better.
One thing that I want to point out is that even though Kinzer portrays Turgut Ozal as a revolutionary leader who was one of the few modern leaders of Turkey to see its full potential in the 21st century, Ozal's highly capitalist [and nepotist] shift inoculated a deep and powerful corruption in the government that Turkey, to this day, suffers from. Related to Turgut Ozal, and many other leaders of modern Turkey, the baffling question I have always had and to this day cannot really understand, is how so many Kurds can serve in the government and parliament as elected officials, so many Kurds can become very rich business man, entertainers, actors, singers, writers, and Turkey still struggles to find a healthy ground for communication about the Kurdish-Turkish issues? To explain away this discrepancy by just blaming the oppression of free speech seems inadequate.
Overall, Crescent and Star was a pleasure to read. At times, Kinzer becomes a bit repetitive, but his anecdotal references to conversations with Turks from different walks of life and with foreign officials about Turkey are priceless. His obsession, like most Americans and Westerners, of democracy is a bit optimistic, idealistic, and something that I do not completely agree with.
I will try to read Kinzer's more recent books about Turkey and the Middle East. I would like to hear what he has to say about the current political rule in Turkey, as it seems to be what he was wishing for in Crescent and Star, but I am not sure that now that it is happening, he would still wish for it. He got his pro-EU, pro-ethnic dialogue, non-Kemalist, pro-religion government that is trying very hard to turn Turkey into the next EU member. Some things are radically different. For example, now that the ban on the Kursdish language is lifted, radios and TVs broadcasting in Kurdish have sprouted all over, and artists are clamoring to record Kurdish songs and establish collaborations (Aynur Dogan's Kece Kurdan is a good album to start. And of course, Ibrahim Tatlises is not only the most famous Kurdish singer but one of the most famous Turkish singers of all time) On the other hand, Europe is busy passing laws banning head scarves and mosques with minarets, things that Turkey was criticized for doing. Once again, the double standards are apparent, as Turkey is always blamed to be violating human rights (I am not saying that it isn't!) while European countries restrict religious and cultural freedoms as they see fit (and let's not forget the non-secularist stuff, like "In God We Trust" on American bills.) The truth of the matter is the Islamic Fundamentalism that the aptly-criticized Turkish military was always paranoid about has shown its ugly head and this time threatening the Western world, and so *now* it is OK to try to crush Islamic extremism by restricting civil rights... What happened to open dialogue, the communication that Turkish government was always urged to engage in with what it considered extremists? I can imagine some Turkish generals nodding with a shrug to the West: We told you so! Perhaps Kinzer is right in that Turkey is at a unique position to bring together the troubled sides and end the chaos that is currently taking place in the world. But I find that hard to believe, as any issue about Islam is bound to polarize Turks. In the end, I think the ethnic problems can be overcome, but the issues over religion are going to get worse before they get better.