I know we have a blog for tomorrow but I can't remember what it is and I don't think anyone else does either because insofar no one has blogged. I thought I would take this opportunity to complete my blog that I started but did not post on Turkey. I was interested in the Armenian genocide issue as Pamuk was highly criticized for his liberal views. As it turns out Pamuk was accused of insulting Turkey, but the charges were dropped. Incidentally the US and the EU called for the charges to be dropped and Pamuk won the Nobel Peace Prize shortly before his trial date. Seems a little to coincidental to me. Not that Pamuk was undeserving of the Nobel Peace Prize but it seems that politics may have been a stronger driving force than his writing.

This brings me to what our speaker said on Wednesday about Pamuk. I thought personally that he just did not like Pamuk or his writing and therefore thought he was undeserving of the award. Personally, I think that the addition of those pages from an ancient source added an artistic touch to the book the White Castle.

I also was interested that in the reasons that Turkey was not yet admitted into the EU. In addition to the reasons stated in class I think that the Armenian genocide as well as the death of 30,000 Kurds is another major block in Turkey's progress towards acceptance. Turkey denies that these incidents occurred and several countries in the EU want Turkey to admit to them before they accept Turkey into the EU. I also looked it up and saw that Turkey warned the US of the possible negative consequences for stationing our troops in Turkey if the US voted to consider the death of the Armenians a genocide.

I think accepting an Islamic country to the EU would be very beneficial. It could help strengthen ties between the "western culture" and the Islamic nations of the "middle east" It may have a negative effect and Turkey may be viewed as traitorous instead of as a role model but I think the effort toward unity between the differing countries and cultures should be commended.