Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey: The Political Trials and Times of Fethullah Gulen - Softcover

Harrington, James C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761854614 ISBN 13: 9780761854616

Publisher: University Press of America, 2011

Synopsis

The political trial of Fethullah Gülen, a moderate Turkish religious leader, helped to greatly expand civil liberties and strengthen democracy in Turkey. The trial began in 2000 in an Ankara state security court (now disbanded) and ended in 2008 in an appeals court in Gülen's favor. This book explores Gülen's trial, examines the evolving process of Turkey's efforts to enter the European Union, and discusses ways that the EU's insistence on expanding civil liberties in Turkey and reforming the judicial system affected the outcome of the trial (and vice versa). As a coda, the book considers unsuccessful efforts to block Gülen's application for immigrant status in the United States as a religious scholar, which occurred during the same time as his political trial in Turkey.

About this title

About the Author:

James C. Harrington, a human rights attorney with nearly four decades of experience, is founder and director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. He has taught at the University of Texas School of Law for twenty-five years. Harrington has handled landmark civil rights cases, written and published widely, and served on human rights delegations in different areas of the world.

Review:

From the Foreword: Harrington tells a story that illuminates two of the most important issues of our time. The way he tells the story and the sources on which he has relied represent the best kind of historical research and analysis. Jim Harrington is one my heroes for he has spent more than four decades in the struggle for human rights.In this book, we see the struggle among secular and religious elements in Turkey. . . . Harrington has done us a service, for by seeing and understanding what has been going on in Turkey, we can draw lessons about the policies of our own government at home and abroad. Harrington's method of research and analysis is particularly valuable in this respect.Trials can, and fair trials will, give voice to witness stories. . . . The case [Harrington] has chosen is iconic because its central figure presents a challenge to important secular and religious trends in modern Turkey. The case is important to Americans because these very trends are at work in many parts of the Middle East, and because this Turkish political trial teaches us important lessons for our own country. (Michael E. Tigar, emeritus professor of the practice of law, Duke Law School, and emeritus professor of law, Washington College of Law; author of Thinking about Terrorism)

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of America
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0761854614
• ISBN 13: 9780761854616
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 204