The ceremony of placing wreath on the grave of Atatürk, the father of the Turks.

This Wide Angle video segment illustrates Islamic and secular elements of life in Turkey, and introduces Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of Turkey, and his reforms.

This course centers on mechanisms of civilian control of the military. Relying on the influential texts of Lasswell, Huntington, and Finer, the first classes clarify the basic tensions between the military and civilians. A wide-ranging series of case studies follows. These cases are chosen to create a field of variation that includes states with stable civilian rule, states with stable military influence, and states exhibiting fluctuations between military and civilian control. The final three weeks of the course are devoted to the broader relationship between military and society.

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion of the impact of the military on democratization in Turkey, Algeria, and Egypt. He analyzes the structure of power in these countries, the role of Islamic parties in furthering democratization, and raises important questions about U.S. policy in the region through comparison with the policies of the European Union. (51 minutes)

This seminar considers "difference" and "sameness" as they have been conceived, experienced, and regulated by peoples of the Middle East, with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. The first half discusses the Ottoman Empire by exploring how this multiethnic, polyglot empire survived for several relatively peaceful centuries and what happened when its formula for existence was challenged by politics based on mono-ethnic states. The second half of the course focuses on post-Ottoman nation-states, such as Turkey and Egypt, and Western-mandated Arab states, such as Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. Finally, the course concludes with a case analysis of Israel.

This subject examines interactions across the Eurasian continent between Russians, Chinese, Mongolian nomads, and Turkic oasis dwellers during the last millennium and a half. As empires rose and fell, religions, trade, and war flowed back and forth continuously across this vast space. Today, the fall of the Soviet Union and China's reforms have opened up new opportunities for cultural interaction.

This kit provides the materials and background information needed to engage students in a dynamic and constructive process of learning how global media perspectives differ based on country of production, media source, target audience, and political and social context. There are five lessons representing important issues and media documents from: Africa (news and documentary film clips about the food crisis), Latin America (editorial cartoons about immigration), Europe (news and documentary film clips about Islam and cultural identity), India (magazine covers about India's rise in the global economy), and Southeast Asia (websites concerning Islamic majorities and minorities).

As global population grows, so does the demand for water. Yet less than one percent of the planet’s supply is potable, and estimates suggest that 40% of humanity will not have access to clean water by 2025. Explore the complex issues surrounding this precious resource in this episode of America Abroad.

America Abroad is an award-winning documentary radio program distributed by Public Radio International (PRI) and broadcast on public radio stations nationwide. Each month, we take an in-depth look at a critical issue in international affairs and U.S. foreign policy.

To learn more visit http://www.americaabroad.org

This SALT Interpretation Pack has been designed as a resource for educators and students as they explore the themes of Hrair Sarkissian's "Istory" and Tayfun Serttaş's "Foto Galatasaray" exhibitions at SALT Beyoğlu and SALT Galata in Istanbul, Turkey. Designed for use in high school classrooms, its contents include activities, multimedia resources, terminology and opportunities for discussion. Educators are encouraged to adapt, shape and build upon these materials to best meet the needs of their students and teaching curricula.

The "Foto Galatasaray" project is based on the re-visualization of the complete professional archive of Maryam Şahinyan (Sivas, 1911 – Istanbul, 1996), who worked as a photographer at her studio in Galatasaray, Beyoğlu from 1935-1985. The archive is a unique inventory of the demographic transformations occurring on the socio-cultural map of Istanbul after the declaration of the Republic and the historical period it witnessed; it is also a chronological record of a female Istanbulite studio photographer’s professional career. Consisting entirely of black-and-white and glass negatives, the physical archive of Foto Galatasaray is a rare surviving example of the classical photography studios of Istanbul’s recent past. After Şahinyan left the studio in 1985, the archive was transferred to a storehouse belonging to Yetvart Tomasyan, owner of Aras Publishing. Twenty-five years later, approximately 200,000 negatives in the archive were, over the course of two years, sorted, cleaned, digitized, digitally restored, categorized and protected by a team under the direction of artist/researcher Tayfun Serttaş.

In 2010, Hrair Sarkissian spent two months in
İstanbul documenting the history sections of
various semi-private and public libraries and
archives in the city, from the Archaeological
Museum and Topkapı Palace libraries to the
Atatürk Library in Taksim, the Ottoman Archives
of the Prime Ministry General Directorate of State,
and the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research
Centre. The second exhibition in the "Modern Essays"
series, Sarkissian’s photographs of rows of shelving
caught in time and racks of files that appear rarely
opened - of dark and oppressive spaces shot with
only the light available - express the complexity
of information these archives contain, and their
role in denying or confirming the artist’s inherited
history and existence within the present.

This course surveys the history of the Middle East, from the end of the 19th century to the present. It examines major political, social, intellectual and cultural issues and practices. It also focuses on important events, movements, and ideas that prevailed during the last century and affect its current realities.

On behalf of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), take this quiz to test your knowledge of Turkey's politics, economy, history, and more.