New York Times veteran reporter Stephen Kinzer addressed Turkey's current political and social relationship with Afghanistan, Central Asia and the United States Thursday evening at a free public lecture in the Humanities Building.
The event was sponsored by the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia.
Because of Turkey's Islamic status and proximity to Afghanistan, Kinzer said he believed world powers will take a much higher interest in the country in future months for both military gains and religious clarification. According to Kinzer, Turkey is trying to maintain its role as a secular nation and is a model to turn to in response to current misconceptions about the faith.
\Turkey can be the country that stands in front of the Islamic world as a counterexample [to Muslim extremism],"" Kinzer said.
Turkey is the only Muslim nation that is a member of NATO, and has opened its borders to U.S. troops in the current war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The country's officials are also sharing Afghan intelligence information with different countries, according to Kinzer.
He also addressed Turkey's current problems and possible solutions to those problems.
A lack of strong leadership throughout the country's history has contributed to many of the problems, he said.
Kinzer has worked for The New York Times since 1983 and is currently a national correspondent based out of Chicago. He has reported from more than 50 countries throughout his career and became the first bureau chief of the Times' bureau in Istanbul in 1996.
""I recently purchased his book and think he is a good observationist on the current situation in Turkey,"" said UW-Madison graduate student Emre Biringen, president of the Turkish Student Organization. ""[But his] methodology of solving problems are not that easy. It can not happen as quickly as he mentioned.""
From 1983 to 1989, Kinzer covered the civil war in Central America as the Times' bureau chief in Managua, Nicaragua. He also served as the bureau chief in Bonn and Berlin reporting on Germany and the former Yugoslavia. Prior to the Times, Kinzer worked as a Latin American correspondent for the Boston Globe.
He is the author of three books, ""Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds,"" ""Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala"" and ""Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua."" He has received several awards for his journalistic abilities, including the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University for his coverage of Latin America.
