Turkey!Follow

Nope, not a Turkey recipe for the forthcoming Christams (Only 7 months to go!), but an intresting story from this pivotal country.


Some background info:

For those of you that don't know, Turkey is a bit of a funny country. Established in the wake of the demise of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey was founded by Ataturk, a fiercly secular man who wanted the country to be modern, Western, and secular. He was supported by the Turkish Army, who became the de facto guarantor of the country's secular tradition. For more info, here is a crappy Wiki link.


What's been happenin':

Turkey is currently ruled by the AK party, which was democratically elected in 2002, and which is moderately Islamist. In theory, this is a challenge to Turkey's secularity, and worried Europeans who feared that Turkey would turn into an Islamist state. In practice, though, the AK party has worked hard to meet the EU requirements for entry in the EU, and has done very well for Turkey in general. Despite a few attempts to appease some Islamist within his party, by proposing laws that were dodgy (such as making adultery a criminal offence), the AK party has been surprisingly conciliatory and pro-Western.


The situation now:

The President of Turkey must be replaced. Constitutionally, the President of Turkley has a largely symbloic role: Foreign trips, keeping the country secular, and keeping a watchful eye over internal developments. Nothing incredible, since its the Prime Minister that has the real political power.

However, the President is chosen by the Assembly, whose ruled by the AK party. For a while, it was thought that Erdogan (The PM) himself would run for President. This caused quite a stir amongst the Turkish population, but most of all in the army, who were uneasy with having an Islamist as President, especially since his wife and daughter wear the headscarf.

After some fussing and faffing, Erdogna nominated his Foreign minister instead, the respected Mr Gul. He is also a M<uslim, and his wife also wears a headscarf, but he nis very much appreciated by his European counterparts.


Why the fUck do we care about a country named after a bird?:

Because it's election time soon, and the army has been making nasty noises. Full story here.

For those that can't be bothered to read it all, the army has been threatening to "intervene". It has done so before, and could do so aain. In practice, this means doing a coup d'etat, and removing the government from power until things "calm down". Their reasons for doing so is that the country's secular traditions would be threatened by having a Muslim President whose wife wears a headscarf.

Now, bearing in mind that 99% of the Turkish population is Muslim, and that it is the only large Muslim state that is, arguably, in Europe, it is easy to understand why that country has such a huge role to play in the whole Fanatical Islam problem. Not only that, but it sits directly north of Iraq, so not completely irrelevant geopolitically.

All this raises important questions. Should the army intervene to prevent a secualr yet Muslim country from having a Muslim President? Does secularism trump democracy? And would an intervention by teh Turkish Army to rpevent what is in fact a completely democratic decision not make things worse for secularists on the long-term by victimising Muslim?

Personally, I think the army should back off. The AK party is not "radical" in any way, shape or form, and it seems to me that the will of the people should prevail over theoretical concerns for secualrism.

But, then again, Turkey is fiercly proud of its secular tradition, and no one wants an Iran on the EU's doorstep.

And, isn't it somewhat surreal to have a Muslim country threatened by a secularist coup d'etat by its armed forces?

The next few days will prove crucial. If the army intervenes, it could decisive for that country's future. It it doesn't, can we trust a Muslim government to keep secualrism depsite the fact that 99% of its 75 million people are themselves Muslims? And if the army does intervene, isn't this just a anti-democratic coup, that will in fact do nothing but help the more extreme Muslims in that country?

And how does all this fit into the thorny question of accepting, one day, Turkey into the EU?

And finally, how do you make sure that Turkey is not too dry? Cos if there's one thing I really hate, it's dry Turkey for Christmas...





Edited, Apr 30th 2007 10:34am by RedPhoenixxx

florida and abortion....
Can she do that???
Bring out your food!
Turkey!
back to important matters
********** town

Meh, amatures go by time, pros cook using internal temperature as an indicator.

Regardless of cooking method (normally fully covered or wrapped), using a meat thermometer, let the bird get to 165 degrees F. core temperature (thickest part of breast). Turn off the heat and leave covered for 20-30mins. This will bring the internal temperature to 170 degrees F (Fully cooked turkey).

There are many variations in recipies and veriations if you need to display the bird rather than kitchen process it, but the temperature is the technical reason to why any of the "moist turkey" recipies work.

Anyone who's a certified chef should be able to confirm these fundamentals.


Also, if you have a draft-less area to keep the bird, you may want to turn the heat off even earlier as a large bird can raise up to 30 degrees while sitting for 60-90 mins. It's all up to you.


PS. The same principles apply to all meats including beef, chicken, lamb, etc.




Edited, Apr 30th 2007 10:50am by Elderon

Well I didn't specify, but when I said

I did mean by checking the internal temp. :P I <3 my meat thermometer ;)

Good of you to keep the trend going!

That's why it's best to let things stew!

Any more brilliant observations?

I personally think they're just being bad Muslims and should therefore be beheaded like the rest of us.

I've had it in for Turkey since the whole Constantinople thing. Nuke 'em all! Remember the Hagia Sophia!

Did someone say Istanbul?

But not Constantinople!

I get to go see them on Thursday! *does happy dance*

Nexa

Kool-Aid, *****.