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The conflict in Southeastern Turkey between the government of the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdish rebel group (specifically the PKK) has been going on for more than three decades. The recent government and the PKK peace process is welcomed; but it is not the first time that the Turkish government has not kept its pledges; for example, in 1920, after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and foreign powers invaded the Anatolian heartland, the Kurds were promised independence. Ataturk unified all inhabitants against the foreigners after Turkey got its independence, declaring it one nation, but in the process he denied the existence of the Kurdish people, calling Kurds “Mountain Turks.” The other example is that soon after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2003, the AKP suggested a repentance plan asking for rebels to lay down their arms and join the political process; however, the plan never floated. What assurance does Turkey give that it will not do the same thing its predecessor did?  We all hear that the PKK will lay down their arms, and that rebels will withdraw from Turkey, but we have not heard anything about what the government will do. The government may still call the PKK a terrorist group. It never solved the Uludere massacre in which Turkish jets bombed and killed thirty-four Kurdish people who were traveling back to their villages in Sirnak. Instead, the Turkish government released a report, saying that the attack was an “accident. “ Continue reading →

Power in the Middle East is shifting. The new Greater Middle East map will not be drawn without Kurdistan in it. Kurdish influence in the Middle East has increased; when Kurds unite, none of the major power players can use the Kurds for their national interests anymore. Because the Arabs, Turks and Persians not only lack unity against the Kurds anymore, but also all three are fighting each other in a power struggle for the Middle East. In the past they were all united against the Kurds, but after the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the two variables of the war in Syria and the emergence of ISIS in the Middle East show that the fighting between the Sunnis and the Shias will continue.
Multiple actors juggle for power in the Middle East. The cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran continues. Saudi Arabia and Israel already support a Kurdish independent state not because they care about the Kurds, but because they do not want Iran to advance, so they use the Kurds against Iran. The region has a lack of leadership against the ISIS. Continue reading →

Fighting poverty is increasingly becoming a priority for many people. The staggering number of individuals living below the poverty line continues to increase thereby creating a moral imperative to help the poor.  When I look at the issue of poverty alleviation for those living in poor countries, most of the scholarly work on poor nations is written by rich nations. I am not by any means discrediting the valuable work of wealthy nations; however, I strongly believe that effective solutions to poverty reduction will ultimately come from people who live in poor countries. Many poor countries are getting poorer in spite of getting help from the rich nations. As a matter of fact, it seems that most of time, those who have come to help the poor countries have instead ended up hurting the people they intended to help. The question is how to fight with poverty without hurting the poor and yourself. Continue reading →

Gulen and his followers have a split personality or just perpetrate a two-faced fraud on his members and on the rest of the world. Not only should people not believe them; instead, they should put them on trial for deception and fraud. Rather than listening to what he and his followers say, the public should focus on what they do. Gulen and his followers are a living contradiction both in what they say and do. They cannot be trusted because they play on both sides of the fence.

Gulen is an arrogant individual, and he will not give up his fight with the current Turkish government, but his arrogance will finish him and his empire. He is reminiscent of an archangel who was one of the most intelligent angels, but was cast out from God’s light forever when God asked him to obey Him, but he did not listen. Gulen has already lost his credibility and power. Yet, if Gulen comes to Turkey, giving up his sanctuary in the USA, he still will have the chance to win the hearts and minds of the Turkish people, even if he is guilty of spying and trying to topple the elected government, but Gulen is afraid go to prison, so probably he will not return to his home country. Continue reading →

The future of the global economy depends on the next generation, and nations that equip their youth will be competitive in the global market. We are living in a global village with fading borders. For the Philippines to meet this challenge of globalization, it is necessary to prepare its citizen for a workplace where responsibilities are constantly changing, where there is a flow of information, and where markets develop beyond the national borders.  Therefore, education must help individual Filipinos to prepare for a nonlinear path, thereby levering the Philippines’ human resources for national development and international competitiveness. For example, most of the Asian countries, such as Japan, Singapore, South Korea, China, and Australia, removed restrictions that had virtually barred foreign universities from operating in these countries. To change the regulations to stimulate foreign investment in these Asian countries in general, thus giving an advantage to their economy. Continue reading →

. Further more the United Nations has declared that freedom of press is basic rights  (article 19, Universal deceleration of Human rights). This year UNESCO focuses on the  , the need for quality journalism, reporting that is accurate and independent and Gender imbalance in the decisions making position in the media and digital safety because the digital communications make it difficult for journalist to protects themselves and their sources . The first Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of press.” it is very interesting founding father put limitation on government because they know what benefits might a free press bring to American society. I believe even the most outspoken advocates of free speech therefore recognize that there should be limits how far we can allow words and images can cause the violence and hate. The problems are that when it comes to working out the limits where to draw the line. Continue reading →

Last two weeks the world commemorated the centennial of two events that shaped the modern history of the Turkish Republic and the Armenian people. The first event was the Battle of Gallipoli where the Ottoman Empire forces put up resistance to defend the Strait of Dardanelles stopping the European Allied forces. If Turkey had lost that war, the fate of Turkey would be very different today; a majority would speak English or French, not Turkish. The second event of the April 24th, 1915 was the Ottoman Empire’s decision to arrest and exile Armenians to the Syrian city of Aleppo. The Armenians consider the mass deportation and systematic massacre to be genocide, while the Turkish government denies that it was genocide, saying that the killings were a necessity of war. As a matter of fact, many of the major superpowers committed atrocities against others who did not agree with them or who objected to their power and, as a consequence, crushed them with bloodthirsty forces. We see some of the heads of states publish emotional statements to commemorate the victims of war. Their true motive is not about human feelings, but about still using the moment as a scapegoat or symbol for their political and personal purposes. Continue reading →

Most of us are aware that something is wrong with our climate and that some countries that have four seasons are seeing those seasons slowly disappear. We also know that scientists have been divided on the issue of climate change. Some scientists argue that climate change is  a fabrication, some agree climate change is occurring, and some have even made a fortune discussing the issue. For example, the former American Vice President Al Gore made millions of dollars from his book An Inconvenient Truth, and subsequently owned Current TV that he later sold to Al Jazeera at great profit. The climate change debate has evolved as more and more research is being done about global warming’s impact on the economy, on the public, and even as a threat to national security. Several factors continue to impact the issue. The oil companies are not very transparent about their polluting activities. Also, global energy demand indicates fossil fuels will not disappear overnight. No magic bullet will solve this problem, but is may be retarded if all the governments, first, focus on renewable energy and reducing emissions by switching from coal to natural gas for electricity generation, second, deploy carbon capture and storage technology, and third, create a fair, balanced carbon-pricing system. Oil companies should enter into the public debate alongside other NGOS, scientists, and public and private sectors to offer some realistic solutions to our global climate change, not just rely on some big oil lobbyists’ reports. Continue reading →

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman once said, “We were divided by walls during the Cold War, but now we are united by the web.” Because of the advancement of technology, we have become more connected than ever, and we are now interconnected like a global village; consequently, international collaboration has become integral not just to higher education but also to high school education in the twenty-first century, and recently international partnerships among other countries have been growing incrementally. For countries to survive globally in their economy, they need to prepare and equip their students with international experience and with perspectives and skills. Under the pressure of technological progress and modernization, the Philippines has initiated K-12 educational development programs and committed to fully supporting and modernizing its K-12 education system. The problem is that the government has given some guidelines for schools to implement these K-12 programs, but does not have any pilot programs to replicate them nationwide. Therefore, Minority Care International (MCI) has partnered with Thompson Christian School (TCS) and invited a guest speaker Dr. Sweeney, the superintendent of Boles Independent School District, to address the topic of educational development and to train some of the schoolteachers for the K-12 program. The workshops about K-12 program helped TCS to usher in the newly nationally mandated 11-12 grades and to develop a seamless K-12 curriculum program. Besides training the TCS teachers, MCI in partnership with Boles Independent School District and TCS, has initiated a unique international experience involving a semester of its Cross-Cultural Teacher/Faculty Exchange Program. Continue reading →