Instilling Religion in Greek and Turkish Nationalism: A Sacred Synthesis - Hardcover

'George Bernard Shaw is rumored to have said once that 'England and America are two countries separated by the same language.' If we want to rewrite this statement for Greeks and Turks in modern times, we might easily say that 'Greece and Turkey are two countries separated by the same political culture.' One of the basic ingredients of this shared political culture was the use and abuse of religion and of religious sentiments of the masses for nationalist projects. Although the performance of the Greek nation-state was considered to be a 'success story' by the founding fathers of Turkish nationalism, in that it nationalized the Orthodox Church and hence ironed out its ecumenical/universal characteristics in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Turkish nationalist elites were about a century late when it came to nationalizing Islam. Dr. Grigoriadis' treatment of the subject will generate debate on the both sides of the Aegean.' - Ayhan Aktar, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey