Change for the better?

[Vladimir]

So. After Obama looses the election, off to Turkey?

[HoreTore]

So. After Obama looses the election, off to Turkey?

Nah - no oil there.

[Kralizec]

I like the initiative, but I'm not a muslim. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how much it catches on.

But that is the part which raises some doubts: the role of the state in this. I can imagine quite a few people would disagree with a re-emphasis on the attempts of the Turkish state to exert control over Islam,

Well, this Department of Religious Affairs is not some clerical board like the college of cardinals. They're not able to force anything. It's doubtful wether many muslims outside Turkey will pay attention to it because it's a government initiative, but I don't expect harm will come from it.

[KukriKhan]

...Well, this Department of Religious Affairs is not some clerical board like the college of cardinals. They're not able to force anything. It's doubtful wether many muslims outside Turkey will pay attention to it because it's a government initiative, but I don't expect harm will come from it.

More likely a schism, similar to the Eastern Orthodoxies v Rome, then?