American Independence Day is a good time to consider what's been happening in a country halfway across
the world. Turkey is a democracy, but not all democracies are created equal. Let's start with the Global Ethics Corner from the Carnegie Council. They created this commentary on the internal conflicts that are behind the current crisis.
AsliBali is an assistance professor of law at UCLA School of Law and she specializes in comparative and international law. She has watched Turkey with particular interest - it is her native country. She was recently in Istanbul and I asked her what it was like.
Modern Turkey, as conceived in the 1920s, was a new nation - it would be secular and western; it's people would look forward, rarely back. Novelist ElifShafak, who is fascinated by a history her government would rather forget, searches for her nation's modern history on a non-descript Istanbul street where she once lived and worked.
That was ElifShafak in Istanbul. It was produced by Sandy Tolan and Melissa Robbins of Homelands Productions.
That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance. Our theme music is by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock.