The Legacy Of Ottoman Empire And Turkey Politics Essay

The Legacy Of Ottoman Empire And Turkey Politics Essay The study aims to summarize and analyze the recent developments in the Middle East particularly after the Arab spring process in terms of the Turkish foreign policy and its roots dated back to Ottoman Empire. Beginning the legacy of Ottoman Empire, the study also attempts to highlight main milestones for the current Turkish Foreign policy under the light of 20th century international system and its changing atmosphere such as cold war situations and later period in this region. Emphasizing the state formation period of Turkish Republic, it should be mentioned that secularist formation and westernization of new state created new mentality as a nation based and defensive and mostly introvert nation due to strengthen the structure of state and nation building target after the demolition of World War I. At the same period, The Middle East faced lots of transformation and rooted changes it has never seen before such as mandate system, independence of new states, oil based strategies of western states, establishment of Israel, World War II and redistribution of power among the global powers as well as regional ones. This study also prioritizes the main principles and characteristics of Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern States during the cold war and later on. In doing so, secularist structure, idealist and peaceful approaches, transformative and pragmatic aspects of Turkish foreign policy are examined in the light of main alliances and treaties in the Middle East. Particularly, relations with USA, European States, Israel and Iran were mentioned in order to demonstrate big picture including the reaction of Arab States to Turkey for long time. Iran revolution became a new checkpoint for durability and endurance of Turkish secular system with the regime exporting concern by Iran during the 1980 s and 1990s. During 1990s, focusing on terrorist attacks, Turkey established strong military connections with Israel which increased the concern of Arab States on Turkey and historical prejudices were revitalized in the Middle Eastern States. After the AKP came into power in Turkey, gradually relations with Iran and Arab States growth both economically and politically. Arab spring became a new turning point partially in terms of foreign policy of Turkey. While Turkey was exerting new initiatives in the Middle East, at the same some concerns on new interventionism and neo-Ottomanism were propagated among the Arab States. Concurrently, while recent developments give advantages to Turkey, some visible and long term invisible disadvantages also occurred. Among these disadvantages, increasing terrorist attacks, tension between Iran and Turkey on Syrian conflict, political intervention and new prejudices of Arab States on Turkeys foreign policy and also its proactive approach for Palestine. This study finally gives short suggestion as alternative Turkish foreign policy using soft power more than military and political pressure in the region which has more influential than others. THE LEGACY OF OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND TURKEY By the end of the 18th century, great scientific and technological developments had been increased in western world. Ottoman Empire could no longer compete against the increasing European powers. As a military power, after Russian invasion to the Crimea which was the part of Ottoman Empire, Russia started to dominate the northern territories of the Ottomans, particularly black sea regions (Ucuzsatar, 2002). Additionally, Napoleans invasion of Egypt in 1798 and British invasion of Egypt in 1882, increasing of Russian influence in Balkans due to nationalist slavish movements at the beginning of the 18th century, Ottoman Empire lost great part of territories in mentioned parts irreversibly (Quataert, 2000). After the long imperial background based on pax-ottoman in most cases, with the eruption of World War I Ottoman territories became a playground of European Powers for regulating the international system and particularly the Middle East. However, for this region, treaties, double prom ises and strategies formulated by colonial powers could not bring temporary and stable system; moreover it created endless conflict potentials and seeds of enemy like a peace to end all peace (Fromkin, 1989). Although establishing a modern, western, secular and nation based state, new Turkish Republic, mostly Turkish citizens could not ignore the Ottoman reality and its long history. Understanding contemporary Turkish politics and foreign policy particularly toward the Middle East is one of the strong arguments for analyzing recent development in this region due to its historical background and legacy of Ottoman Empire. As an emerging regional power, that exemplifies a synthesis between a Muslim-majority population in the Middle East and a functioning democratic ally of the West, by the new millennia the proactive foreign policy of Turkey has been on the rise. Understanding the recent development, in many academic researches, the focus of attention typically shifts from the present to the past. As the heart of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey claims the mantle for the imperial rule inherited from the former Roman and Byzantine Empires that made the Ottomans the center of Eastern and Western wor ld interactions for over six hundred years (Walker, 2009). As a result, there is a growing interest in the Ottoman legacy for modern Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East as well as in Balkans and Caucasus. Addressing the empire history of great powers, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, China, Turkey, and Japan are all direct descendants and successor states of their former empires. In the same way that not all nations share the same power capabilities, ideology, or history, these post-imperial nations inherited a different type of legacy (Walker, 2009). The legacy that these former empires have bequeathed to their respective successor states vary on a number of important areas ranging from collective memories, institutions, ethnicities, boundaries, and historical disputes. Therefore, the way in which these states deal with and interpret their imperial legacies varies widely and is an important yet under theorized and understudied field in international relations. In order to solve puzzle properly, nations traditions, values, attitudes, patterns of behavior, habits, customs, achievement and particular ways of adapting to the environment and solving problems with respect to the threat or use of force should be underlined for evaluating the imperial legacy. Collective memory is also vital point in this regard. Having been the heart of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks look back on their history with a mixed sense of pride and ambivalence (Walker, 2009). Collective memory is central to the concept of imperial legacy. It is, after all, the intense memory of the transformative historical empire that informs national beliefs and ensures the continuation of the legacy. While Turks view Ottoman history versus what Arabs call the Ottoman yoke, the same facts may be interpreted by two parties in distinctly different manners. Collective memory is also naturally subjective and constructed during centuries. As a result, a legacy is drawn from the stock of stor ies that exist in socio-cultural context and its function is to provide a usable past (Walker, 2009). The imperial reputation of the Ottoman Empire and the historical memory of modern Turkey have been always considered and prioritized on the back of Turks mind. In order to comprehend the history of 20th century in the Middle East and recent developments, Ottoman rule based on millet system, foreign policy of Turkey as successor state, Turkeys desire toward Middle East as Ottoman legacy and unnaturally formulated borders based on western strategies rather than regional realities should be analyzed accurately. Foundation of Turkish Republic and Developments in the Middle East According to the most historians, the history of modern Turkey can be divided into two phases, which are independence period from 1918 to 1923 and the era of reformist and modernization of the Turkish Republic. During the first era, as a downfall of Ottoman Empire and escalation of European powers and Russian invasion of Anatolia, in the more than 10 fronts from Balkans to North Africa, from Iraq to Caucasus and Hedjaz, Ottoman armies were within the wars against Arabs, local tribes, British, French, Italian, Russian and moreover Australian and Indian troops. At the end of these wars, Ottoman frontlines withdrew to Anatolian border which is called later as misak-i milli describing mostly nation state borders which is almost similar with todays borders. In eastern part of Anatolia, Turco-Russian treaty named The treaty of Moscow and then Kars Treaty finalized eastern border problem with Russia in 1921. After the withdrawal of British and French forces from Istanbul in 1922 in the ligh t of related resolutions of Sevres Treaty, Greece forces occupied temporarily the western part of Anatolia (Ucuzsatar, 2002). This occupation triggered the independence struggle for war of Turks as a mass defense throughout the Anatolia. In 1921 Sakarya battle which was the great defeat of Greece initiated the talks with the other imperial European powers and it was ended with Ankara Treaty. During first period of foundation, with the painful background about lost territories in the Middle East, Balkans and Caucasus, Turks defended only Anatolian land by aiming at fully independence in their Turkish heartland instead of defending large Ottoman territories due to the weakened military capacity and concluded confrontations with Greece and European powers with the Lausanne Agreement in 1923 prior to declaration of the foundation of new Turkish Republic. In second part of foundation, briefly, Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk), founder of new secular, modern, western and nation state, launched several political, cultural, educational, social and economic revolutions internally while he was formulating a new foreign policy based on principle peace at home, peace in the world (Ucuzsatar, 2002). This national security policy was based on territorial integrity and full sovereignty and the modernization of Turkish society after Ottoman traditional and religious social structure. All these revolutionary efforts in a nation coming from Ottoman history were not easily adaptable at that time. Beyond the internal transformative effects, these changes created a new mentality and new foreign policy strategies which prioritize the western alliance and cultures. Among the revolutionary strategies of Ataturk, abolishing of Caliphate in 1934, changing education system, new Latin alphabet as parts of secular state and society were the giant diversificatio ns from Middle Eastern communities. In transforming of region, during the independence period of Turkey, several tremendous changes in the Middle East, never seen in history, occurred in terms of emerging new states, drawing unnatural borders, creating new conflicts among states, increasing the influence of oil based strategies and mandate system which dominated the first half of century in the region. With regard to the foreign policy of Turkey and its new allies at first decades of Republic, Turkish foreign policy between the two world wars was formulated by Ataturks vision and his personality. That is why most writers called this period The Turkey of Ataturk. (Gol, 1992) According to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkeys foreign policy objectives were based on sovereign entity, and full benefits of peace which might be called non-irredentist approach with the exception of the Montreux Convention, Mosul province and the Hatay Issue. According to Turkey, Mosul was within the National Pact boundaries. On the other hand the Treaty of Lausanne left the undetermined frontier with Iraq to be settled directly with Britain as trustee for Iraq. Talks started in May 1924, but reached no definite conclusion. The Treaty of Lausanne envisaged that if the parties failed to find a solution within nine months, the issue would be referred to the League of Nations. By 6 August 1924 Britain had decided to make a unilateral application to the League of Nations and had the item Iraqi Frontier put on the agenda of the Council of the League. Finally, the Council decided that the Brussels Line become the permanent border, thereby awarding Mosul to Iraq in December 1925 (Gol, 1992). Despite the reactions in Turkey, the government decided to abide this decision. Beyond the bilateral relations and some agreements and diplomatic visits with neighboring countries, in 1937 Turkey participated to the Saadabad Pact with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. It was Turkeys attempt to be a bridge between Asia and Europe. Having witnessed that the abolishing of the caliphate and the secularization of the state caused bitterness in Arab countries, Ataturks westernization policies indirectly separated Arabs and Turks. The treaty of brotherhood between Turkey and Afghanistan was signed during the independence war of Turkey. Moreover, Turkey started to lead an Eastern Pact and signed two agreements with Iran and Iraq. In addition to the pact of friendship with Iran, the visit of Shah Pehlavi served to open a new era in Turca- Iranian relations. Turkey and Iraq solved the border problem with the Mosul Agreement. The Saadabad Pact was not a military alliance, but a pact of friendship and solidarity. The pact called for non-aggression, consultation among the signatory states in case of a threat (Gol, 1992). As a regional treaty, it was a seed of cooperative approach, but prior to the World War II, it could not be active and behind the expected level as a multinational organization. Although Ataturk transformed Turkey in the 1920s and 1930s from Ottoman Empire to secular republic led Turkey toward West culturally, economically and politically, its population never left its religious beliefs, traditional values and heritage. After the death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1938, the Turks showed a marked determination to preserve their Islamic identity and develop good relations with neighboring Muslim nations. In reality, unfortunately the Arabs could not forget the harsh oppression of the nascent Arab national movements, and Turks did not readily forget how Arabs had betrayed them during World War I. Actually the relations between Arab Countries and Turkey did not become as expected level due to Turkish Foreign policy priorities and the independence period of Arab countries except Iraq during 1930s and 1940s. After WWII, no close relationship developed with Arab Countries for long time II due to Turkeys whole engagement with West such as Truman Doctrine with USA in 1947 and joining NATO. After the WW II, in most Arab Countries nationalist blocs were launched and led by Egypt and Syria which was based on supporting the Soviet position in the international arena and opposing Turkeys regional policies. Another important development was also Turkeys recognition to Israel which affected Arab countries foreign policies remarkably against Turkey. Even though not a common known, independence struggle of Algeria against France was also milestone that Turkey did not show willingness as expected level for recognizing the independence of Algeria and not directly supported this independency due to its western relations. Under the cold war situation and transformation of Arab countries, Turkish foreign policy was based on its interest with western allies during 1960s and 1970s. Even though some positive developments internally occurred in terms of religious rights and emotional contacts with Arab communities, several military coups prevented these kinds of growing relations with r egion. In 1980s, Turkeys relationship with the Muslim oil producing countries was a complete transformation in the balance of power that prevailed during the 1970s. Oil import strategies basically affected Turkeys relations with Iraq, Iran and Libya. Moreover, in Turkish public arena, Arab-Israel wars and Palestine drama, invasion of Afghanistan increased public sensibility as Muslim community. Turkey was also deeply affected by Iran revolution in terms of secular regime structure and western relations. Both developing relations with Israel and terrorist actions hosted by Iraq and Syria were dominant points on Turkeys foreign relations with Arab Countries while economic relations was going on certain level. Turkeys exertions on the membership for European Union also showed its willingness toward westernization and controlled and balanced relations with neighboring countries, particularly against Iran in internal politics. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s cold war situations and internally several coups with the support of western countries in Turkey played key role on foreign policy formulation. Dilemma of Turkey : Turkish Secularism and its image in Arab States The Arabs were one of the important nations during the Ottoman Empire. Although there has been close cultural and religious common sense between Turks and Arabs, the conflicts during the last period of Ottoman Empire fed the distance between Turks and Arabs till 2000s. During the independence period of Arab Countries and cold war period, both Turkey and Arab States have not been in common strategic allies and close relations. Despite the reactions of Arab states, Turkey was one of the states which recognized Israel initially. During the cold war Turkey preferred to develop its relations with western countries dominantly, and Turkey could not strengthen its relation with Middle Eastern Countries particularly with Egypt and Syria. Ironically, when Turkey faced serious problems with Israel such as in 1956 and after 1967 and 1973 wars, its relations with Arab Countries increased remarkably. In this period Turkey several times associated with Arab States against Israel in UN resolutions a nd OIC appeals which included common reactions and some sanctions against Israel (Armaoglu, 1995). It should be also mentioned that water sharing problem between Syria, Turkey and Iraq triggered the problems which was based on sharing of Euphrates water. In this issue, Syria with the support of Arab League started to support and host terrorist groups within the Syria and Bekaa Valley in Lebanon which weakened the relations with Syria and Iraq. Beyond the political and economic setbacks among regional states, there are several effects and understandings which feed prejudice and blames reciprocally between Turkey and Arab States. First of all, even though during the Ottoman Empire there were no crucial problems, in declining period, perceptions among the Arab nations against Turkey have been changed by nationalist approaches, movements, policies of colonial western states, priorities and new foreign policy formulation of new Turkish Republic. Secondly, the structure of western style state, abolishing Caliphate and Arab alphabet and also secularist state formation in Turkey increased the confused feelings of Arab nations against Turkey. Thirdly, the assumption about Ottoman period as Ottoman yoke in Arab region which was imposed by western mandatory states is also influential dimension in relations between Turkey and Arab States during the 20th century (Gol, 1992). The negative attitude of Turkey sometimes during the independ ence period of Arab States fostered the feelings against Turkey. Last but not least, Turkeys close relation with Israel was one of the important arguments of Arab reaction towards Turkey. Additionally, Turkeys formally unwillingness on development of relations with Arab States also played partially role due to its regime protection reflex until 2000. Dramatically, this picture changed with the changing the generation structure and increasing the Islamic values in Turkey and also with transformation in Arab States recently. The improvement of the Turkish image in the Arab world over the past decade is due to a number of reasons. The rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002 changed the anti-Islamic secularism gradually in terms of politically and socially. Importantly, zero-problems and win-win strategy in regional foreign policy opened up Turkey to the Arab and Muslim world. The democratic structure of Turkey and its growing economic model and export-led growth in a region dazzled the rentier economies based on one export good. Moreover, the success of the Turkish balance between religion, secularism and public freedoms in a region was attracted by regional states. Growing familiarity with Turkish culture and society through its popular television programs, documentaries, movies and TV series also played significant role on image transformation (TESEV, 2012). Politically, Turkeys strong stand against American use of its territory and bases in the 2003 for invasion of Iraq, Prime Minister Erdogans unexpected reactions to Israel during the Gaza war of December-January 2008-2009 and Turkeys stand against Israel after the Gaza Flotilla incident in May of 2010 increased positive feelings of Arab nations. Most recently, with the increasing its positive image among the Arab States, this picture not only offers Turkey great opportunity, but also calls tremendous challenges in this Pandora box for coming period. In this vein, as a direct effect on Turkish-Arab relations, Turkish-Israeli relations should be examined for proper consideration of regional development (Onis, 2012). Turkey- Israel Relations and the Reactions from Muslim States in the Middle East Having thought the historical background during Ottoman Empire, good relations between the Jews and the Turks have played a remarkable role in development of Turkey-Israel relations in 20th century. Israels location in the heart of a hostile Arab world triggered itself to create new allies to escape isolation by establishing relations with some states in the Middle East. Of all these countries, Turkey and Iran had more in common with Israel than others. As a historical dimension, Ottoman rulers and Turkeys attitude toward the Jews helped smooth the way to normal relations between the two countries. Turkey had been among the first states to recognize the establishment of Israel on May 14th 1948 (Abadi, 1995). However Arabs did not accept Turkish foreign policy and demonstrated their disappointment on this issue. In 1951, for example Turkey agreed with the West in protesting Egypts decision which inhibits Israeli ships passage through the Suez Canal. This caused a serious crisis in Tur key-Egypt relations. However, these developments have occurred several times because of Israels aggressive attitudes. Although Turkey developed its relations with Israel, it incorporated Iraq into the Baghdad Pact in terms of anti-Israeli resolutions and measures. Consequently, its policy toward Israel became more confused and it has been difficult to understand at first look. With regard to the Suez crisis, Israel, in collaboration with England and France, started to occupy the Sinai Peninsula. Upon this, based on the Baghdad Pact decisions, Turkey lowered its level of diplomatic representation. Similarly, Israeli declaring Jerusalem as the countrys eternal capital caused a new crisis for Turkey-Israel relations. On the other hand, during 1950s and 1960s, clearly Turkey-Israeli relations were determined more pragmatic approach rather by ideological. Having said Israels desire to escape isolation in the region, relations between Israel and Turkey expanded to include non-security matters and for example Turkey initiated to share agricultural expertise from Israel (Cetinsaya, 2005). In Turkey-Israel relations, 1967 War and the provocation on burning Al Aqsa Mosque in 1969, which is one of the most holy places of Islam, caused to establishment of Organization of Islamic Conference that have been milestone to withdraw diplomatic relations to the low level and serious condemnation towards Israel. In this period, there was a growing threat for Turkey which was the new regime in Syria and its foreign policy arguments against Turkey within the cold war situations. Therefore, Turkeys policy toward Israel was determined not only by fear of pan-Arabism and Nassers ambition, but also by Syrias aggressive behavior. During 1970s and 1980s Syria gave important facilities such as shelter and encouragement to terrorist groups of Kurds and to political movements, such as the Armenian Marxist terrorist organization ASALA. This Syrian policy identified the relations between two countries during last three decades. In the early 1990s the audience of the diplomatic arena changed an d Israel gained new dynamism in international relations. Asias most populated countries, such as India and China, established diplomatic relations with Israel, and others followed these actions. At last, in December 1991, the political climate seemed appropriate and the Turkish government decided to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. 1990s was the honeymoon for Turkey-Israel relations that several important and close relations has been founded such as military defense agreement, transportation of the Manavgat Spring water to Israel, know-how sharing on military technologies, agricultural trade on different kinds of seeds. The more Syrian threats emerged towards Turkey, the stronger ties between Turkey and Israel was established. Thus, the amount of Israeli tourist rapidly increased in Turkey (Bengio, 2005). On the other hand, Turkeys economic needs dictated reliance on the Arab markets, especially for oil. In addition, Turkey needed more commercial relations with Arab states. In the political sphere Turkey sought to obtain Arab support during the Cyprus crisis. Increasing the relations with Israel, Turkey faced to loss of support from the numerous Muslim members in the UN. In the context of Arab public opinion on Turkey, feelings have been always fluctuated in accordance with political development, alliances, military agreements and Palestine issue. (Nachmani, 2005) Beyond the recent development at the end of 1990s, Turkey-Israel relations lost impetus in the 2000s as a consequence of the change of government  in Israel. With the Ariel Sharon administration coming to power, violence towards the Palestinian people increased. Following the Al-Aqsa intifada and Israels proliferating operations on the Palestinian occupied lands, in April 2002, widespread protests against Israel took place in many provinces throughout Turkey. Turkey accused Israel of carrying out genocide, thereby worsening bilateral relations. On the contrary to common knowledge, Turkey-Israel relations have not worsened till 2009 even though there were several important developments occurred in that period. More obviously, with the AKP (Justice and Development Party) administration coming to power in Turkey in November 2002, mutual economic and political relations have been maintained. After the Iraqi war, officially and non-officially, various news sources stated that there was Israeli presence in northern Iraq and the (Israeli secret service) Mossad agents were training Kurdish Peshmargas which meant the direct support the separation of Iraq and terrorist PKK groups. This has resulted in mistrust towards Israel  in  bilateral relations. At the same time, in addition to the development in relations with Arab States particularly with Syria after Hafez Al-Assad, Turkeys facilitative role in Turkey-Syria relations started to improve again as of March 2007. This time, Turkey led the Syria-Israel negotiations and the hopes of settling dispute between these countries have risen (TESEV, 2012). Last but not least, the breakpoint in Turkey-Israel relations has been erupted with namely Marmara flotilla issue that aimed to humanitarian assistance to the Gaza strip, unfortunately 9 Turks were killed by Israeli army. Although Turkey declared its conditions against this military intervention, the current Israeli government declined Turkeys demands which were suggested for the improvement of the bilateral relations. This rejection by Israel shows that the political relations between the two countries will continue at low-level. In recent period, mostly Turkey-Israel relations are going under the shadow of Palestinian conflict. Even though some politicians use this foreign policy leverage for increasing domestic credibility in Turkey, as long as Turkey continues to support Palestine and condemn Israel for its attacks, virtually credible image of Turkey may go on. Turkey- Iran Relations After Islamic  Revolution  in Iran Iran and Turkey are two regional powers and main regional actors which have played significant role during history and they founded two empires and civilizations. Foreign policies and strategies of these two states always designate the developments in the Middle East. Describing the recent and current situation in the Middle East, especially, after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Turkey and Iran relations gained importance in terms of their influences in the region. With the end of the Shahs regime, Irans foreign policy took a significant turn. This shift in Iran has redefined its relations with Turkey. In addition to the Sunni-Shia sectarian issue and historical contingences between Turkey and Iran which was deemed particularly, foreign-policy orientation of the two countries also diverged completely. While Iran has maintained contentious policies toward America and even Europe, Turkey continued to be part of the Western alliance, NATO and Europe. The revolution led America to redef ine its alliances in the region and maintain even closer relations with Turkey. During the Iran-Iraq War, as first decade of Turkish-Iranian relations after the revolution, Turkey and Iran have had willingness to cooperate in trade and economic relations. In this period, the volume of trade between the two countries exceeded $2 billion, consisting mainly of oil sales by Iran in return for Turkish goods and technical assistance.   During the Iran-Iraq War, Turkey tried to maintain neutrality and improved its economic relations with both neighbors, especially with Iran (Armaoglu, 1995). Generally, Turkeys neutrality was welcomed in both Iran and the Arab world. However, when Turkey attempted to mediate the conflict, it did not succeed. Despite developments in trade relations, problems arose between Ankara and Tehran in the mid-1980s over PKK terrorism in Turkey and Irans efforts to spread the Islamic Revolution in the region (Sander, 1990). After the first half of the 1980s, Turkish-Iranian relations mostly focused on problems related to ideological differences. Iran repeatedly protested the secularist policies in Turkey which was understood as an intervention and regime exportation to Turkey. The United States also reacted to the Islamic Revolution by improving its relations with Turkey. As Iranian-U.S. relations worsened, Turkey appeared to be the most important ally of NATO and the United States in the region.  Significant developments toward the end of the 1980s changed the regional dynamics as well as the course of Iran-Turkey relations. In 1988, after eight years of fighting, the Iraq-Iran War ended. Moreover, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR were the most important systemic changes affecting Turkey-Iran relations (Armaoglu, 1995). In addition to the challenges caused by the Islamic Revolution, the constants of Turkey-Iran relations, in the form of cultural, political and ideological rivalrie s, rose to the surface. Turkey and Iran found themselves in competition for their influence over Central Asia and the South Caucasus. During the Azeri-Armenia war in Nagorno Karabag, Iran and Turkey positioned in different sides, while Iran was supporting Armenia, Turkey supported Azerbaijans claims. Additionally, Central Asian newly emerging States became playground and political challenge scene invisibly between Turkey and Iran as well as the Saudi Wahhabism and Western ideologies. The first Gulf War in 1990-91 also changed the dynamics in the region. Iran and Turkey approac

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Photographers probably take more pictures of people than any other subject. Whether you prefer carefully posed (and composed) photos or more of a candid style, there are a variety of lenses in the Canon EF system that can produce excellent results. Traditionally, photographers have relied upon moderate telephotos for portraits, lenses such as the 85mm f/1.8 USM or 100mm f/2.0 USM. These lenses allow you to back off a little bit from your subject, and still produce frame-filling shots while minimizing the amount of background distractions. Furthermore, they're extremely sharp and fast — ideal for low-light conditions. Zoom lenses such as the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, which include these focal lengths, work well in situations where you have a bit more available light. In situations where you want to interact with and control your subject, and minimize the effect of your background, short-to-moderate telephoto lenses may be the ideal choice. Longer telephoto lenses may be preferable if you are outdoors and can stand farther back from your subject, and are the lenses of choice if you prefer a candid approach. Zooms like the 75-300mm f/4-5.6 (especially the IS version, with its Image Stabilization that permits sharp hand-held shots in lower light levels), or the professional L-series 70-200mm zooms, are versatile choices that allow you to back off and also tend to throw backgrounds out of focus — a useful technique that pros have used to concentrate upon the subject. Fixed focal length telephotos, like the superb 135mm f/2.0L, 200mm f/2.8L, or 300mm f/4L IS, combine these benefits with outstanding sharpness and autofocus speed. Don't forget that sometimes including more background in a photo to lend a sense of "place" and tell the viewer something about the subject can be extremely effective. Wide-angle lenses, often ignored for portraits, can be an excellent way to communicate this if you're willing to move in relatively close to your subject.

Teaching - A Way to Make a Difference :: Education College Admissions Philosophy

Teaching - A Way to Make a Difference To me teaching is a way to make a difference in someone’s life. If it is emotional, knowledge base or physical, we as professionals should help the student be all they can be. The reason that I want to become a teacher is so that I can make a difference. I want to help students open many doors to their future. I feel that a teacher should be the person that twenty years down the road that we still inspire the student. I cannot say that I am basically just one of the philosophies. I feel that I am a mixture of many, of the philosophies. I believe in student’s freedom, using hands on approach, and focusing on what has happened in the past to cause us to study certain items. Teachers should be nontraditional, but still have traditional values. We as professionals should keep learning and to make learning exciting no matter what philosophy or theory we use. We are there to enrich the students’ life, to make learning exciting. The classroom will be set up in a way to make learning enjoyable not dreadful. I want to have centers for every type of learner that I have. The bulletin boards will informational but fun learning materials. I feel that a bulletin board should have items on it so that it catches the eyes of the student. By going into history as a professional I would like to see the students to have many different types of learning experiences. Students would do group and individual projects, so that they would learn how to work together and alone. In the classroom, I will set it up so that a student can rise to the sky like a balloon. When it comes to discipline in the class the rules and consequences will be posted and the beginning of the year. How they are set will be by asking the students what they feel the rules should be, and what should be done if they are broken. I feel that if they students feel they helped make the rules and consequences they will follow them more closely.

A substitute for royalty Essay

As I reluctantly strode towards my final year of school I pictured the scenes that would await me. Without Jack, my best friend since infant school I felt depressed and gloated in my state of solitude. Jack had left to be an author, although he did not seem either a novelist or an intellectual. I had never read his work before but still I encouraged and supported him. During lunch I noticed the solemn expressions on the teacher’s faces, they lacked their usual humour and were drained of all normal colour. My efforts to replenish their vitality were useless; their expressionless behaviour dampened my own spirits. I left school as I arrived, upset, weary and worried. I couldn’t explain why the staff had acted so out of character. I thought continuously until in the corner of my eye I noticed a pupil from last year. He was pale and surrounded by cigarette butts. In the attempt to cheer myself up I dared to make conversation â€Å"I heard about your four A levels,† I muttered. Realising he may not have heard me I raised my voice â€Å"Has the fact you’ve achieved four A levels stressed you out that much that you’ve started smoking,† I said jokingly. Yet again he blanked me. I approached him gently placing my hand on the bench. I looked closely at his face. His skin was stretched over his bones; his cheekbones and eye sockets bulged out abnormally. â€Å"What’s wrong?† I asked reassuringly â€Å"It looks as if you’ve had an alien encounter,† He arose rapidly â€Å"Yeah something like that,† he finally replied. Then briskly he t rickled away into the distance. The following day I had games first lesson. In an attempt to secure a place in the first side this year, I subtly began to make conversation â€Å"I bumped in to Chris yesterday, he’s smoking very heavily, shame really he made such a good player.† â€Å"I don’t blame him† was the immediate response, bewildered and confused I questioned him â€Å"what do you mean?† â€Å"Ask Mr Lewis† he said in a faint voice as he rapidly relieved himself from my company. As soon as I reclothed myself from the shower I paced towards Mr Lewis’ office. Mr Lewis was a short middle-aged man who was consistently joyous; he was certainly not a stereotypical head teacher. I halted abruptly as he came into view. He was pinning up a notice on his door ‘There will be no welcome Prom, Sorry’ Shocked and upset I realised that this was maybe the only night a female would look at me twice. The anger swelled inside me and at that moment I was determined the prom would go ahead. So I decided to take the news well and acted as if the prom meant nothing to me. During the remaining day I secretly organised the traditional event and felt rather proud of myself as even the most popular guys in the school congratulated me for coming up with such an ingenious plan. The night of the prom lurked as the school bell echoed throughout the corridors signalling the end of school. As the hordes of pupils proceeded towards the exit I cunningly knocked the Janitors keys out of his hand and kicked them forward. A person up ahead picked up the keys, removing the key that would unlock the hall. He then discarded the rest of the keys by hiding them in someone’s bag. After returning home to get changed I entered the ceremony as a hero disguised in a turquoise suit with cue-ball cufflinks. I had arrived fashionably late, just as the votes were being passed around for who would be this years Prom King. Not surprisingly Karl won substantially, he seemed to possess some inhuman magnetism which melted girls hearts. His personality was nothing to be admired but his muscular build was all it took. The party did not warm up until 11 o’clock when a slender figure with a revealing dress approached me with the crown. â€Å"I think Karl must have left, I found this by the fountain,† her voice was so feminine I temporarily found myself in a hazy dream. The girl forcefully placed the crown in my hands. I hesitantly thanked her before asking Mark to come up and be crowned. However just over half an hour later a group of boys I recognised as Mark’s friends approached me soaked through and smelling of chlorine. They handed me the crown, â€Å"we found it floating in the Jacuzzi, Mark must have left.† I had no choice but to call up another contestant, his name was Tony. I hoped he would stay until the majority of people had left otherwise I would be forced to crown myself. A few girls had voted for me but I’m sure it was a joke. However, to my disgust a rather drunk pupil wandered clumsily in my direction, he fumbled with the crown. I removed it into the safety of my hands. † I found it by the lockers,† he uttered just before a huge lurch was followed by harmful amounts of vomit. He sat contently and upright next to a wall as I walked on to the stage. I introduced myself and explained the situation. I raised the crown high. It hovered menacingly above my head, until a powerful, shrill cry caused me to stop, it was Mr Lewis he burst in and broke down. The crown was dropped. He was extremely angry. We poured out everywhere. Unfortunately I had to face him next morning, he was in tears and gradually explained next to nothing just that last years prom was a disastrous tragedy. He handed me one piece of blood stained paper, which was addressed to me. It said ‘I’ve personally published this novel’ I frowned for a few seconds and handed it back I told him that I did not understand. Mr Lewis quietly murmured â€Å"come and see me after school if you don’t figure it out.† I thought hard all day but I couldn’t unlock the mystery. I went back and he showed me a picture of Jack my old friend. He was at the prom dressed in a dinner suit. Mr Lewis handed me a book. I noticed it was the book Jack had given me before he left. I had left it in my locker on my last day. The Janitor must have found it. I noticed the title ‘My unpublished novel’, I opened it, page after page was decorated colourfully in harsh words such as die, hate, kill. They continued for hundreds of pages. Puzzled I eventually turned to the Synopsis. It was a statement from Jack ‘I’ll show the world that not publishing my novel was a fatal error.’ I stared at Mr Lewis in fright. He slowly explained that he had got in touch with the publishers, which Jack asked to publish his book. The publishers told him the basic plot, ‘It was a story of a boys battle to become popular. He was laughed at for being voted Prom King and swore revenge at the next prom. At the next prom the boy was collecting everyone’s votes, then he would take them away and replace them with fake votes, which he had prepared earlier, therefore he could kill each King in the order he pleased. Throughout the night the crown was left in random areas about the school. People returned the crown claiming that the King had left the prom so a new one was voted for. The boy had eventually killed three Prom Kings and planned to kill the fourth one by dropping weights on to him, which were suspended by a rope from the ceiling. Then he poured the entire chemistry departments acid content over his body until he was unrecognisable. He started from the feet up to give him a slow death. He had turned blue from the weight on his broken ribs and sternum. However as he prepared to pour the last test tube full of acid onto his face the prom king lashed out with a severely burnt leg tripping him. He landed on the empty test tubes, which impaled him through his back. The prom king was found in mostly ash and the boy was bleeding heavily from his mouth. He was left in hospital for a while until A close friend came to see how he was and realised he had left the hospital. No body remained. The hospital was baffled. The friend ran back to the death scene finding only a crown near where the body of the fourth victim was found on the floor. Spontaneously he realised a possible connection to the fact that his neighbour hadn’t returned from the party. He was first to be crowned. It took him a while to believe it but His friend thought the boy had killed his victims and left the crown to signify it. The book then says the boy’s friend traces down people who had found the crown and began to reveal dead bodies left around those areas.’Mr Lewis looked deep into my eyes asking, â€Å"Now you understand, I’ve personally published this novel?† He did not await a reply; he carried on saying the publisher’s rejected his book in fear of it causing some person to act in the same way. â€Å"We believe Jack has acted out his own story for real and committed suicide by impaling himself at the end of it,† claimed Mr Lewis. Now Jack is haunting the crown. Whoever wears that crown is a certain victim of another violent, merciless death. Mr Lewis also explains that I must be the friend, why else would the note be to me? Mr Lewis asks if he thinks Jack would act differently if I wore the crown. I was very unsure but knew that Jack’s spirit had to be exorcised to put us all to rest and release the tension capturing the school. First I had to find the bodies of the various boys who had been crowned that night. I clearly remember that young woman who had told me she had found the crown near the water fountain. I rushed there as if I could still save him but I was sadly mistaken. A foul, pungent odour wafted towards me from behind a locked door. I forcefully hurled myself at the door, it shattered easily. The stench in the room was unbearable. I saw Karl, well I recognised one half of his face, the other seemed as if he had been hit close range with a shotgun, but someone would have heard that. I turned to take a sip from the fountain and only then realised there was dried blood all around it. Karl must have been drinking from this fountain while Jack approached him cautiously and then crushed his face into the fountain, leaving a gaping hole in his head. I left Karl to run to the swimming pool where Mark’s friends had found the crown. The Jacuzzi was the only sound interrupting perfect silence. I hesitantly switched it off. As the bubbles dispersed Mark’s figure became visible. He had the most frightening expression portrayed upon his face. He was fixed in a position with outstretched arms as his cumber band fastened him to a grill in the floor. He must have struggled vigorously before he finally drowned. Next I vaguely recalled my incident with the drunk and he had found the crown near the lockers. I guessed he meant Tony’s locker. Sure enough Tony was stuffed tightly into his locker while a maths compass was dug deep into his throat. I returned to Mr Lewis confirming each death. Mr Lewis was not coping well with the strain, he occasionally spluttered and tears ran down his cheeks. The same feelings were not present in my mind though only those of determination flourished through me. I politely stepped outside and headed for the chemistry lab. There I cautiously placed the crown on my head. Jack instantly appeared. He looked no different to when I last saw him. He appeared no less normal than the average human being. We barely exchanged words in our entire encounter. The first gesture made was an order for me to go closer to a neatly lined up row of glass. Obviously Jack was asking me to commit suicide. â€Å"I thought you would prefer this, I’ve known you a long time, you’ve never struck me as a fighter,† his cocky remark only flared my anger more. I slowly edged towards the glass bottles. Every step I took the wider Jack’s smile seemed to grow. Accidentally I managed to knock a bottle on to the floor. Panic stricken I wondered if his mood would change, mine certainly had, this was by far the most fearful experience of my life. Kindly Jack leaned over to pick the bottle up off the floor. As he arose I placed the crown on his head. He looked at me aghast. â€Å"How smart you look,† I proclaimed â€Å"anyone would think you were a substitute for Royalty.† He fell back on to the glass. The crown glistened evilly beside the table

Nursing Informatics Article Review

Article Review Number Two NRSG 115 October, 31, 2012 Article Review Number Two This article briefly summarizes informatics providing definitions for confusing terminology and what it means for the nursing profession. Nursing informatics is described as the union of nursing science, computer science, and information science. As advances in technology continue, nursing informatics increasingly plays a larger role in patient care and nursing practice (Manal, Shaben, & Allen, 2012).By encouraging proficiency in informatics, the authors believe that nurses can improve their knowledge base and confidence in their practice. This competency can lead to a higher quality of care and a safer work environment in the nursing profession (Manal et al. , 2012). Quote â€Å"However, choosing to ignore the technology does not address the challenges. On the contrary, nurses need to think about technology beyond skills mastery and critically examine how it impacts patient care and nursing practice† (Manal et al. , 2012, p. 14). You can read also Coronary Artery Disease Nursing Care PlanParaphrase Nurses should view technology as another tool that is important for the profession and patient care (Manal et al. , 2012, p. 14). Evaluation All three authors are registered nurses. Kelib is a candidate for a PhD and holds two masters; one in business administration and the other in nursing. The remaining authors, Allen and Shaben, both hold masters in nursing. As nurses, they understand the increasingly complex world of technology that is changing the nursing profession, and why it is important for nurses to be competent in it.Two of the nurses provided their email addresses in the article for those interested in being a part of the Informatics Specialty Practice Group for Alberta nurses, which leads me to believe that they are very involved and obviously up-to-date in the world of nursing informatics. This article was published in spring of 2012. I believe it is one of the most current articles on the subject. It doesn’t dive into the specifics of informatics which is a constantly evolving field. Instead it focuses on the importance of understanding what informatics is and why it is important in nursing practice.Since it is such a quick and generalized overview, I believe it is as relevant as it was 6 months ago. This article was geared towards registered nurses, particularly those that work in Canada. I also believe that this article is applicable to anyone in the nursing profession. I do think that this information is relevant to me as a student. It is a very simple article that presents to the reader a brief description of informatics in language I understand. This information provides me insight into the importance and impact that the evolving world of technology has on nursing.The authors quote a professional opinion from one reference and cite references throughout the text to support their conclusions. The first section of the article defines health informatics and terminology related to literacy. All the definitions and facts are cited and referenced. The second half of the article provides an expert opinion as to why informatics is important to nursing. This article uses eight references. Four of the references were published within the past 6 years and the other half dates back from 1996-2003.I do consider this bibliography useful because this article is such a brief overview of informatics and I would like to learn more. I realize how important informatics is to nursing practice and the reference list provides great resources to expand my knowledge on the subject. This article was found on the CINAHL database provided by the Renne Library website. I went under advanced search options and narrowed the search by selecting the box, first author is a nurse, and limited the date of publication to no later than five years ago.I entered informatics into the find box. I think this is an expert opinion article because it is not peer reviewed. It does not incl ude the required abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion section that research articles have. It does cite other research articles and papers related to informatics to provide evidence for their opinion. References Kleib, M. , Shaben, T. , & Allen, D. (2012). Lost in translation. Alberta RN, 68(1), 12-14. Retrieved from

Handling Difficult People

How to handle difficult people General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: I will speak on how to handle difficult people Thesis statement: I will explain how to handle difficult people by first introducing the topic and discussing different ways to handle difficult people. * Attention getter: â€Å"Difficult people are your key to self empowerment, you need to learn how to cope with them, not let them dominate and affect you†. * Audience Motivation: So why do we need to handle difficult people?Well in life we face more than one difficult people and knowing how to handle them will not just make this world better but makes your life a lot easier and smooth. * Credibility: I have dealt with difficult people for over 10 years. I also took some help from my research articles and by reading a book â€Å" how to handle difficult people† by John Townsed. * Thesis -Purpose: I will inform on how to handle difficult people -Preview: at first, I will start by explain/defining dif ficult people.Second, I will discuss different measures to handle difficult people and lastly I will repeat the main points. I. First, definition A. Handle B. Difficult (Now that we have understood the meaning , we can discuss the measures. ) II. Time to discuss the measures. A. Understanding that people are difficult for reason B. May be you are difficult for him/her C. Step on his shoes and think D. Go to higher authority E. Avoid him or don’t think of him Now that we know how to handle difficult people, lets review) 1. Summary: Today we have learned that we can handle difficult people in various ways depending where and when. We learned that we have to take control of ourselves first and be careful on how you are going to react. 2. Closing: the more you confront difficult people, the easier it becomes. When you confront and handle difficult people around you, people respect for your courage, your honesty and control over yourself.Your associate, employees or co- workers fo r example and taking positive action, despite fear, is kind of courage all successful people must have to succeed. Work Cited Townsend, John. Handling Difficult People: what to do when people try to push your buttons. New York. Thomas Nelson. April 21, 2009. Print â€Å"Dumb Little Man | Tips for Life. †Ã‚  9 Useful Strategies to Dealing with Difficult People at Work. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. .

Children Literature Essay

No one can explain the literally unprecedented Harry Potter phenomenon, starting with J. K. Rowling, now 35, whose life has been changed utterly by the product of her imagination. Seven years ago, she was the single mother of a small daughter, living in a two-room flat in Edinburgh, listening to mice skittering behind walls. Now she is internationally famous and earning, according to various estimates, somewhere in the range of $30 million to $40 million a year. Once, during a bad patch, she dreaded the hostile looks she would attract while lining up at the local post office to claim her weekly income support check. Now however she still gets lots of stares, but in the reverse order (Neil 45). Yes, it true J. K. Rowling life has chanced and her books has been the hottest commodity for commercialization since forever. THESIS: There has been a lot of controversy regarding the Harry Potter book series, the scope of the controversy range in conversations from schools, churches, board rooms, colleges and universities. Some of the discussions have been positive and some negative, but mostly what everyone is saying is that the Harry Potter book series will become a classic, because when compared to other children literature books they are just good or better than most, if not all of the other children’s books. In this essay I will prove the point that the Harry Potter books have all that it takes to become part of the literary canon. I will compare the Potter books to five children literature books to determine their literary authentic. I will look at the Potter books from a Philosophy prospective to give a clear concept about the books. I will compare opinions of lay persons, and scholars, and lastly I will discuss the affects that commercialization have had on the books. The books that I have chosen to compare the Potter books are: â€Å"The Chronicles of Narnia,† â€Å"Alice in Wonderland,† and Through the Looking Glass,† Hackberry Finn,† and â€Å"the Wizard of Oz, I have chosen these five books to compare to the Potter books, because these books are books that have endured for centuries. First I will compare the Harry Potter books with â€Å"The Chronicles of Narnia†. The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels written by C. S. Lewis. They are considered classis of children’s literature and are perhaps the author’s best known work. The books that make up the Chronicles of Narnia consist of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Trader, The Silver Chair, the Magician’s Nephew, and The Battle. The Chronicles of Narnia are great children literature books because they contains Christian themes, â€Å"These books may also be used to teach children about spirituality, and are often times viewed as religious allegories. These books teach child about good verse evil, and at the time of their publication they were very popular books, and still are today. Like the Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter books also teach children about good verse evil. But these books like the Potter books have had plenty of criticism. There were certain Christians and Christian organizations who felt that The Chronicles of Narnia promotes ‘soft sell paganism and occultism†, because of the recurring pagan themes and the supposedly heretical depictions of Christ as an anthropomorphic lion. Satyrs, fauns, centaurs, dwarves, werewolves, giants, and even the pagan god Bacchus and the Maenads are depicted in a positive light, when they are distinctly pagan motifs (Smith 10). Although, there was all this criticism about the Chronicles it wasn’t enough to prevent these books from becoming classic. Secondly, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a great children literature book. This book is considered one of the first books created solely to amuse children. It is witty, playful, full of clever conceits and genuine comedy and downright entertaining. But what makes it better than the Harry Potter books? Or is it? No! The Harry Potter books are witty, with genuine comedy, full of clever conceits and downright entertaining, also the Harry Potter books are read by children, young adults, and adults as well. Even children who as a rule are skeptical of reading are reading the Harry Potter books. Should this alone be reason enough to allow the Harry Potter books to classify as a classic? I think so, but let’s continue with our comparison of the other children books (Carol 3-10). The third comparison to the Harry Potter books will be Lewis Carol’s Through the Looking Glass. Just like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass is a great children’s story. This book is a continuation of the story of Alice in Wonderland, and over the years it has amused and entertained many children, but what makes its better than Harry Potter? Is it really better than Harry? Before we answer the question lets continue with our comparison of the next book (Carol 6-10). The fourth comparison will be The â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this novel a young boy is in search of freedom and courage. I believe that this book became a classic because it was one of the first American books in which a black character is portrayed as someone to be emulated, in this case serving as the voice of reason for a cast-off urchin and a middle class white boy. There was plenty of criticism about this book, because it used the word â€Å"nigger† throughout. Many people feel that the word’s racist and discriminatory connotations make it unacceptable to use any where, and particularly in a book aimed at child. Others, however, claim that to call the book racist because of this usage is to miss its point. Again, â€Å"The Adventures of huckleberry Finn is a very nice story, full of fantasy, but it has nothing that the Harry Potter is missing. The fifth comparisons will be the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz, created the popular political fable rather than having Christian inspiration uplift, with a protagonist who is an admirable, individualistic, and rather selfish child rather than a cooperative do-gooder. However, Baum at the same time retained the dominant structure of nineteenth (twentieth century fantasy and with it the neo imperialism that assumed the inherent superiority of certain racial types. The Wizard of Oz is a great children literature with lots of fantasy (Baum 28). Development of fantasy itself owes a great deal to children’s literature, but this does not mean that fantasy is only for children. However, the Harry Potter books have made it trendy to ready fantasy again, but I think it’s worth reminding ourselves of the great tradition that preceded Rowling’s books and helped children to grow up realizing that it is okay to be imaginative and to continue to dream. The Harry Potter books have all the fantasy and intrigue as all the other books and more beside. Each of the books that I have named were usually books that were read by adults to children as a bedtime story, where as the Harry Potter books are being used for the same purpose and more. Not only are parents reading the Potter books to their child as bedtime stories, but in addition they are reading them, themselves for the sake of getting lost and carried away in the magical world of Harry Potter.