On this edition of ST, we speak by phone with Mustafa Akyolm, a columnist for two Turkish newspapers whose work has also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, and elsewhere. He's also spoken at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the TED conference. Akyol's latest book is "Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty," which The Wall Street Journal called "a delightfully original take on Turkey and on the prospects for liberal democracy in the broader Islamic Middle East." Publishers Weekly, furthermore, said that "Akyol clarifies the complexities and contradictions of Islam in this indispensable book. He demonstrates how the harsh tribal cultures of the Arabian desert shaped Islam for centuries, often at odds with the Qur'an.... This even-handed scholarly [book] makes Islam accessible to Western readers." Akyol will give a speech on "Opportunities for Democracy and Liberties in the Middle East" at the upcoming Annual Friendship Dinner and Award Ceremony given by the Tulsa chapter of The Institute of Interfaith Dialog; this event happens on Tuesday, October 23rd, at 6:30pm. (You can learn more about this gala, and about Mustafa Akyolm and his work, at this link.)
A Chat with the Turkish Journalist Mustafa Akyol, Author of "Islam Without Extremes"
