The Evasive Crescent: The Role of Religion in Politics, Spring 2004

Saturday, June 5, 2004

The first issue of TPQ in 2004 focuses on religion and politics, specifically in terms of both the worldwide debate on the relationship between Islam and democracy and the role religion plays in Turkey’s quest for EU membership. Nowadays many of both Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy concerns involve religion in some form or another, for better or worse. As a candidate for the EU, Turkey anticipates beginning negotiations for full membership following the EU’s December summit in 2004. It is well known that some in the EU view Turkey’s membership as unlikely because of the Muslim population that is perceived to constitute a risk to the identity of the Union.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Nigâr Göksel

D. Nigar Goksel has been Editor-in-Chief of the Istanbul-based Turkish Policy Quarterly (TPQ) since 2002 and Turkey and Cyprus Analyst for Crisis Group's Turkey/Cyprus Project since April 2015. She was Senior Analyst at the European Stability Initiative (ESI) between 2004-11, where she covered Turkey and the Caucasus. In Spring 2014, she joined FRIDE as associate fellow, focusing on the Black Sea region. She is a regular contributor to the German Marshall Fund’s ‘On Turkey’ series and writes frequently for Al Jazeera International. Nigar is also registered as an independent consultant for political analysis and project management. She has designed a range of reconciliation and civil society capacity-building initiatives in Turkey and the South Caucasus.

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