When I think of human history, one thing that disturbs me badly is when I see a group of people who has been terribly oppressed at one time, and that groups becomes just as bad of oppressors themselves at another point in time. ....................

Couple famous quotes come to mind..

"In situation of oppression, those who remain neutral take the side of the oppressor." (Desmond Tutu)

Lemon:

A few decades back, Turkey used to be a lot poorer than it is today. The country faced a series of catastrophies that began with the decline and the eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey had to wage an unbelievably expensive war on dozens of fronts in a geography ranging from The Caucasus to North Africa. When everything was over, there was an Anatolia invaded by the British, French and Italian soldiers.

The road to the collapse of the empire began in the Balkans with the spread of the nationalist sentiment. You remember Lord Byron, Lawrence of Arabia etc. Turkish republic was founded on a similar nationalistic principles. The roots of Turkishness were sawn during that period. All the major events of the period including the alleged massacre of the Armenians can be linked to this nationalist upheaval.

We are talking about a staggering poverty, pain and unbearable sufferings which constituted the basis of ethnic awareness. The political machine that created this movement made sure that this nationalistic upheaval must be limited to the exact borders of the Ottoman Empire. We would observe years later during the collapse of the Soviet Empire that such things can be planned beforehand and with staggering precision.

Here is the link (Turkish):

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/13540806.asp?gid=229

The article says that Mongolia has a population problem and women far outnumber men. Moreover majority of the male population seems to have alcoholism problem which hurts the economy. They want 20.000 Turkish males to balance the men/women ratio and also they think hardworking Turkish males will knock some sense into Mongolian men. As for why they have chosen Turkey; the article tells that Mongolians regard Turks as their 3rd neighbors, because of historical connections. A  council will be arriving next month to discuss the issue.

For Alameda:

Thank  you very much for your  review.

I have never read any novel on Chinese or Japanese  literature-novel or story-.

You are right, because we are always interested in Turkish and Western Novelists.

I have no any knowledge about Japanese or Chinese literature and novelists.

My university branch is engineering but “ Literature and books” is my hobby.

This list show my favorite “all time novels” for “novel readers” as a recommendation.

I don’t like todays novels in general; in my opinion, they are not impressive and high in quality.

For examplean Brown:

Brown writes novels based on science like a real historic document.

But he is of course a good writer.His novels are very good for movie.Because he is a good historian at the same time.

I think the others novelist write average novels, not top level; but repetition novels.

I think they seem not the best level, not high in quality

I think sometimes the art of novel has died : Technology Century.

This is my opinion.

By the way, I shall look for any Japanese or Chinese novel like the novel “The Tale of Gengi”  By Lady Murasaki,  here in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul.

But I would love to read “Tale of Gengi” especially someday.

Thank you again.

P.S.

The Tale of Genji (, Genji Monogatari^?) is a classic work of Japanese literature

attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh

century, around the peak of the Heian Period. It is sometimes called the

world´s first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the

first novel still to be considered a classic, though this issue is a matter of

debate.

Well, I think it is obvious that the world will end someday.  It is the natural order of the universe.  I don´t think you need to be a scientist, prophet or shaman of the Mayan people to come to this conclusion.  All of this 2012 business is taken from a Mayan codex that may or may not indicated that the world will end on December 21, 2012.  However, what many people don´t realize is when missionaries came to the "New World" there were hundreds of Mayan codexes.  Missionaries trying to convert the natives destroyed many of these ancient documents.  What we are left with is a scant few.  Nobody knows what was on the codexes that were destroyed.  Any information that we have today about what Mayans believed is just a fraction of what existed.  The Mayans that still exist today have been, for the most part, assimilated into western culture.  With that said, I think that much of Mayan civilization is still a mystery.

ALL-TİME BEST NOVELS  15

For novel readers

1- Victor HUGO :  Les Miserables 

2- Fyoder DOSTOYEVSKY : Crime and Punishment    

3-Leo TOLSTOY :  War and Peace

4-James JOYCE :  Ulysses

In Utah state one can take the knowledge test (written) either in english or spanish.  

One can also ask for the pictures/sketches version. So basically even if you dont speak/read english you can answer the questions by choosing the right picture.

This was the case in early 90s but I dont know if the test has changed since.

So based on this I might say that  mormons are not xenophobic

look here

http://www.turkishclass.com/turkey_pictures_gallery_124 

I don´t know what is your understanding of humanism is. Can you clarify this point?