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

Description

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)