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Tag: turkey

  • Azan Dilaungkan Dari Hagia Sophia Buat Pertama Kali Dalam 81 Tahun

    Azan Dilaungkan Dari Hagia Sophia Buat Pertama Kali Dalam 81 Tahun

    Buat pertama kalinya dalam 81 tahun, seorang muazzin melaungkan azan di dalam Hagia Sophia, antara monumen paling ikonik di Istanbul.

    Azan dilaungkan dari dalam muzium itu kelmarin (2 Julai), menurut laman Russia Today (RT).

    Menurut RT, sejak empat tahun lepas, azan berkumandang dari menara-menara muzium itu, namun muazzin melaungkannya dari sebuah bilik solat, bukan dari dalam Hagia Sophia sendiri.

    Bulan lalu, Turki membenarkan Al-Quran dibacakan di dalam Hagia Sophia sepanjang bulan Ramadan tahun ini. Setiap hari, saluran televisyen Turki, Diyanet TV menyiarkan ulama-ulama Turki membaca Al-Quran di dalam muzium itu pada waktu sahur, lapor agensi berita AFP.

    Langkah itu bagaimanapun dibantah Greece – parti pembangkang di negara itu, New Democracy, menyifatkannya sebagai “provokatif dan tidak munasabah”.

    “Langkah pihak berkuasa Turki menjadualkan tilawah Al-Quran di Hagia Sophia pada bulan depan (Ramadan) merubahnya kepada sebuah masjid buat pertama kali dalam 80 tahun.

    “Ia satu tindakan provokatif dan tidak munasabah, dan menunjukkan sikap tidak menghormati para penganut Kristian Ortodoks di serata dunia,” kata penyelaras Ehwal Luar dan Pertahanan parti itu, Dora Bakoyannis dan ketua sektor Ehwal Luar, Ioannis Kefalogiannis dalam kenyataan bersama ketika itu.

    Hagia Sophia, yang bermaksud ‘Hikmah Suci’ dalam bahasa Greek, dibina sebagai sebuah gereja Byzantine pada abad ke-6 sebelum ditukar menjadi masjid pada 1453 apabila tentera Ottoman menakluki Istanbul, yang ketika itu dikenali sebagai Constantinople.

    Selepas kejatuhan Empayar Ottoman dan setelah Turki dibangunkan sebagai negara moden sekular, masjid tersebut ditukar menjadi sebuah muzium pada 1935.

    Pada Mei lalu, ribuan jemaah berhimpun di Hagia Sophia untuk menuntut hak mereka untuk menunaikan solat di sana.

    Source: Berita MediaCorp

  • Mohd Khair: How The West Defines Terrorists And Terrorism

    Mohd Khair: How The West Defines Terrorists And Terrorism

    There’s a new definition for the term ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorists’:

    Terrorism – “It is an act of terror carried out only by Muslims, killing vastly Muslims (average 90% of victims, if not all of them) in the name of Islam, especially in one of the holiest month of the Islamic calendar.”

    Terrorists – “A group of Muslims who carry out acts of terror, killing vastly Muslims in the name of Islam (average 90% of victims, if not all of them), especially in one of the holiest month of the Islamic calendar.”

    There’s also a new definition of a ‘loner’.

    Loner – “Any mentally unstable white non-Muslim who carries out acts of terror on anyone at any time for any reason.”

    These new definitions of terrorism, terrorists and loner can be found in the New Idiots Dictionary of the Western World, and Idioticpedia (the equivalent of wikipedia for idiots).

     

    Source: Mohd Khair

  • Kenapa Tidak Ada Kecaman Keatas Serangan di Istanbul Sama Seperti Kecaman Serangan di Eropah Barat?

    Kenapa Tidak Ada Kecaman Keatas Serangan di Istanbul Sama Seperti Kecaman Serangan di Eropah Barat?

    After the senseless attacks in Turkey, i have been waiting for the usual suspects to issue their strong condemnations: either through the mainstream media or on their own social media platforms. Unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, i am still waiting.

    I really wonder whether these people realize how this looks: are you really saying that the lives of non-White people don’t matter? Or is it Muslim lives specifically that have less or no value?

    Do they have to issue condemnations and express public sadness when attacks occur in the West, because they need to ‘prove’ to others that they are ‘moderate’ Muslims, and such a need is not present when the victims are Muslims themselves?

    More importantly, this is a good time to discuss the real motivations, issues and complexities surrounding terrorism. Since the victims are not white, talking about the causes of terrorism would definitely not attract the criticism we are familiar with, otherwise: that doing so would be ‘cheapening the lives of the victims’.

    So we should not miss this opportunity. Yes, religious extremism is a problem. But let’s not be lazy and reduce the issue to ‘whoever does not wish Merry Christmas is an extremist’, and instead, deal with the issues of grievances about foreign policy, discrimination, lack of trust in authority (political and religious), the occupation of Iraq (which happened almost exactly 13 years ago to this day), the military-industrial complex, socio-economic disenfranchisement, and have an honest conversation about these matters. If we are really interested in solving the problem.

    But if we are just interested in scoring points with others or in ‘proving’ ourselves, sure, let’s just continue to ‘condemn’ terrorism (selectively), blame religious extremism, and then lament when the problem still exists: basically, do the same things and then express surprise or outrage when the outcome is not different.

    Source: Walid J Abdullah

  • Pelajar Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah Beri Bantuan Kemanusiaan Pada Pelarian Syria Di Turki

    Pelajar Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah Beri Bantuan Kemanusiaan Pada Pelarian Syria Di Turki

    Keinginan untuk menyebar ihsan membawa sekumpulan pelajar madrasah jauh ke Istanbul, Turki.

    Mereka ke sana demi melaksanakan satu usaha kemanusiaan – menghulurkan bantuan dan juga tangan persahabatan kepada para pelarian Syria di negara itu.

    Dianggarkan seramai 2.2 juta pelarian Syria masih berlindung di Turki akibat kemelut politik Syria yang berlarutan sejak 2011.

    Bagi Mashita Abu Bakar, 15 tahun, pendedahannya kepada krisis kemanusiaan itu terhad kepada apa yang ditonton atau dibacanya melalui media massa.

    Namun pada November lalu, Mashita, bersama 22 pelajar lain dari Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah, berpeluang ke Turki bagi membantu para pelarian Syria menerusi Projek Salam 2015.

    “Sebelum ke sana, saya berasa amat gelisah tetapi apabila saya sampai, mereka amat gembira kami ada. Walaupun kami berada di sana untuk masa yang singkat sahaja, tapi mereka menghargai sangat. Mereka kata, ” Kita adalah saudara dan kami sayang sangat dengan kamu.” Jadi saya tersentuh,” jelasnya.

    Semasa lawatan selama seminggu itu, rombongan pelajar tersebut dibawa ke dua buah sekolah di mana kesemua pelajarnya merupakan pelarian Syria.

    Selain menghiburkan mereka dengan persembahan skit dan kompang, para pelajar madrasah ini turut menghadiahkan buku-buku cerita kegemaran mereka serta alat-alat permainan untuk pembelajaran.

    Sumbangan $10,000 juga dihulurkan, hasil kutipan derma di kalangan kenalan pelajar, sejak Januari tahun lalu.

    “Kesungguhan mereka (para pelajar Syria) untuk belajar sangat menyentuh hati saya, walaupun keadaan mereka tidak bagus tapi mereka masih mahu belajar,” jelas Nurul Syafiqah Ibrahim, pelajar daripada Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah.

    Menerusi kerjasama dengan agensi bantuan kemanusiaan Turki, Kimse Yok Mu, para pelajar ini turut menziarahi rumah-rumah pelarian bagi mengagihkan barang-barang keperluan musim sejuk.

    “Misi Projek Salam ini ialah untuk memberi peluang kepada para pelajar kami melihat sendiri dan memahami cabaran yang dialami para pelarian Syria, terutamanya, kanak-kanak dan juga remaja.

    “Madrasah mengharapkan yang pelajar-pelajar kami dapat dibimbing menerusi misi ini untuk menjadi insan yang bertaqwa dan juga pemimpin yang berakhlak dan berilmu,” jelas guru yang menyelaras Projek Salam 2015, Azzar Ruah.

    Projek Salam dijayakan dengan sokongan geran bernilai $40,000 daripada Yayasan Rahmatan Lil Alamin (RLAF).

    Sejak 2010, RLAF mengagihkan lebih $500,000 bagi menyokong 26 projek kemanusiaan.

    Dengan sokongan itu, ia diharap para belia tempatan dapat terus melakukan kerja-kerja kebajikan, tidak kira di dalam mahupun di luar negara.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Thai Consulate In Istanbul Attacked After Uighurs Deported

    Thai Consulate In Istanbul Attacked After Uighurs Deported

    Turkish anti-Chinese demonstrators stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul in protest at the deportation by Bangkok of dozens of Uighur Muslims to China, as diplomatic tensions flared Thursday in an increasingly combustible controversy.

    The attack was the latest in a series of nationalist-tinted protests in Turkey during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan over China’s treatment of the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim Uighurs in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

    Nine people were arrested after the action at the consulate building in Istanbul late Wednesday organised by a group calling itself the East Turkestan Education Association, the Dogan news agency reported.

    They broke down the doors to the building, pulled down the sign outside and damaged the furnishings inside, television footage showed.

    The Thai flag was pulled down as the building was also pelted with stones. Files and documents were flung outside and littered the street while a man was seen battering a window with a post.

    Shocked consulate workers returned to the office on Thursday to find their workplace upturned, with broken glass and debris littering the floor.

    Thailand said it had deported around 100 Uighur Muslims detained in the kingdom since last year to China, in a move sparking fears for the safety of the asylum-seekers.

    The fate of the Uighurs, who presented themselves to police as Turkish, had been the subject of a diplomatic tussle between Ankara and Beijing.

    Thai government spokesman Werachon Sukhondapatipak told reporters “some 100” Uighurs were deported to China Wednesday after finding “clear evidence they are Chinese nationals”.

    He also revealed that an earlier group of Uighurs, 172 women and children, were sent to Turkey in late June.

    – ‘Without consent’ –

    In an address to Turkish ambassadors late Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who is scheduled to visit China later this month — condemned the violence and warned against “any provocations”.

    “We have our compatriots all over the world. Whatever happens to them directly concerns us. But we can never approve of what happened in Istanbul, such things don’t befit us,” Erdogan said, declaring all Asians visiting Turkey “our friends.”

    In a statement released Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Thailand for sending the Uighur Turks back to China, accusing it of “acting against the international laws.”

    Foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told AFP that Ankara was “saddened” by the attack on the Thai consulate, saying such actions “were not approved” and “do not benefit anyone”.

    The UN refugee agency said it was “shocked” by the deportation to China after the earlier group of Uighurs had “benefited” from being moved to Turkey.

    It is “a flagrant violation of international law”, said Volker Turk of UNHCR in a statement which added the Uighurs “indicated that they did not wish to be deported to China”.

    Turkey last week had summoned the Chinese ambassador to convey its “deep concerns” over alleged restrictions on the Uighur community during Ramadan. Beijing has denied any such restrictions.

    Protests have taken place across the country, dealing a blow to relations between China and Turkey which have noticeably improved over the last few years.

    On Thursday pro-Uighur protesters who gathered outside the Thai embassy in Ankara attacked an Asian tourist, thinking that she was Chinese, news agency Dogan reported.

    The woman, whose nationality was not immediately clear, was rescued by a plain clothes police officer.

    On Saturday, Turkish nationalists attacked a group of South Korean tourists in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, believing they were Chinese.

    The Royal Thai Embassy in Turkey on its Facebook page warned Thai citizens to be on alert.

    Turkish media reported on Thursday that China Philharmonic Orchestra cancelled a performance scheduled to take place in Istanbul in mid-August in the face of the protests.

    Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli added further fuel to the fire by saying the attack on the Koreans was understandable given that both peoples have “slitty eyes”.

    Meanwhile in a possible bid to ease tensions, a report by Turkey’s state Anatolia news agency from Xinjiang said it found there were no special restrictions on Uighur Muslims during Ramadan.

     

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com