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October 31, 2006
Turkish Minister Supports Intelligent Design
In a recent TV debate on the Turkish educational system, the country's Minister of Education, Mr. Hüseyin Çelik**, argued in favor of intelligent design and for incorporating the theory into Turkish high school biology textbooks. The debate was aired on CNNTurk* on 17 October 2006, on the popular TV show Tarafsiz Bölge (Neutral Zone), which is hosted by the trendy Turkish journalist Ahmet Hakan Coskun.
During the 2.5 hour-long program, the minister was challenged by another leading journalist, Ismet Berkan, who has previously argued for Darwinism and against ID in his columns. Berkan contended that the vague reference to "creation" in Turkish biology textbooks as an alternative to Darwinian evolution should be omitted, since it presents faith, not science. Minister Çelik responded by pointing that the idea of creation is not necessarily based on religious texts and that it can be based solely on objective evidence and the latter is what Turkish textbooks refer to. Moreover he gave a brief description of ID, by quoting an op-ed piece of mine — that was, interestingly enough, published in the newspaper that Mr. Berkan edits (Radikal) — and argued that it should be in Turkish textbooks as an alternative theory to Darwinian evolution. The 15-min discussion between Minister Çelik and Mr. Berkan is available here in audio, albeit only in Turkish.
So, watch out. ID might become a part of science standards soon in unexpected places!
* CNNTurk is a joint-venture of CNN International and the Dogan Media Group, Turkey's no. 1 media empire. It is one of the two most prestigious and popular newschannels in Turkey.
** Mr. Çelik is a member of the incumbent AKP, Turkey's moderate Muslim party.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 2:07 AM | Comments (2)
October 30, 2006
Interview in the Danish Daily Kristeligt Dagblad
Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad published a full-page profile of me, based on an interview by native journalist Camilla Waas. The title reads, "Muslim i jeans til kamp mod mistilliden" which, I have been informed, means "Muslim in jeans fighting against the mutual mistrust." Well, that sounds accurate — at least I do wear jeans quite often.
The full text is down below, for those who can read Danish. (And if any of those privileged kindly decide to let me know about the content, I will appreciate.)
Continue reading "Interview in the Danish Daily Kristeligt Dagblad"
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2006
Symposium on Islam & Religious Freedom
Frontpage magazine has organized a symposium addressing the issue of religious freedom according to Islam. Provocatively titled "Convert or Die," the symposium presented the views of Robert Spencer and Andrew Bostom (who argue that Islam is basically a religion of violence and tyranny), historian David Aikman, and me. I turned out to be the only one who found "Convert or Die" an un-Islamic message. The full text of the symposium is available here.
By the way, I wish a happy and blessed Eid (The Muslim feast of the Ramadan) for all.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 7:33 PM | Comments (9)
October 14, 2006
Lectures at the University of Minnesota
Mustafa Akyol will be speaking at two events at the MacLaurin Institute of the University of Minnesota on October 19-20. The first one, "International Journalists' Forum on Intelligent Design", will host Canadian journalist Denyse O'Leary and Akyol as speakers and will start at 8 pm on October 19. In the second event, Akyol will give a talk on "The Pope and Islam" with a response by Dr. Terry Nichols (Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas), which will start at 2:30 pm on October 20.
For further details, see the MacLaurin Institute website.
Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)
