Prayers for modern-day Turkey

BY GLORIA ONYURU

A recent vote by a committee in the US House of Representatives condemning the killings starting in 1915 of Americans in Turkey as genocide, along with Turkey's desire to enter the European Union, have put a spotlight on this country, which also provides major support to the US in the war in Iraq.

MODERN-DAY TURKEY is located at a geographical crossroads. Straddling two continents and bordering eight countries, Turkey is also surrounded by four seas, with the Bosphorus Strait gracefully flowing through the center of its largest city, Istanbul, separating Europe from Asia.

To remain secure and stable while surrounded by so many neighbors, Turkey maintains the seventh largest army in the world. But for all its formidable force of arms, Turkey today is also at an internal political crossroads. In an effort to protect its democracy, the military is drawing its secular swords against the Islamic fundamentalists' weapon of choice: a turban-styled headscarf.