Well, if it were the massacres, torture and cruelty that form the negative image of a nation then I can ask you about the medieval times in Europe. I could go on to inquire about the cruelties the Jewish communities of Spain were subjected to. I might also ask you about Dracula (Vlad). Sectarian wars, crusades and their barbarism. Indeed, crusaders gave the biggest harm to Istanbul than anybody else. Even Hagia Sophia still bears the signs of their vandalism.

Of course, you were taught in schools like that. There is no denying we were taught the other way around. Wouldn´t it be naive to think Ottomans or Europeans deserve such a bad image.

Assimilation? The world is full of assimilated people. Slavized Bulgarians, Islamized Serbs, Russified or Germanized Poles you name it. Who is completely innocent?

To make a long story short: there is currently a wide spread anti-Islam sentiment in the Western world and this manifests itself not only among people but also in the bureaucratic formalities and political decisions made by these countries.

Let me tell you a story, when you watch Hollywood movies from the 50´s, you´ll find countries like Russia complete with the entire "iron curtain" countries, Germany and Japan were satanized. You can´t deny the government´s role in manipulating a desired hatred reaction against these countries. It is something cultural, it is in the mindset of these nations and their leaders to satanize the enemy.

The same thing happened to the Ottoman Empire. There was a satanic Turk image which precedes the partly bad image of Turks even today. British agents provoked uprisals in the once Ottoman territory forcing the empire to fight wars on all possible fronts. The movies were depicting a terrible Turk image. Agents operating in East Turkey provoked Armenians to form alliance with the Russians and revolt against the country.

It wasn´t the pro-freedom sentiment that caused them to do all these. Humanistic ideals were out of question too. These war lords created small nationalistic countries which are impossible to defy their power. Many of those countries had dictators in place and their people were kept ignorant and powerless.

I am inviting you to undo my judgements about the West rather than find excuses or put the blame on the other party. It is obvious that the West has set its mind on the Islam these days. They are doing their best to polarize the world into haves and have nots.

Some Islamists, bad Muslims, media, complaints and stuff like that... The real problem here is the wrong perception of the Western governments and media who consider Muslims as a potential threat. In many countries, the prophet of Islam is depicted as a terrorist; Islam as an evil religion, people are seriously questioning the entire belief system and all this is happening with a complete denial of the fact that Islam is one of the largest three religions in the world. When you take into account the conflicts happening in these countries and those initiated or intervened by the venerable US and its allies you will conclude that the real evil is elsewhere. The real evil is currently bombing innocent civilians in Afghanistan. I am sorry if these sad news don´t make the headlines in your country´s newspapers but this is more or less what is going on in the world.

True there are terrorist who call themselselves as mujaheddin and they claim they are doing this in the name of God but believe me they don´t have wide spread support. If this wasn´t the case every country being assulted would not have some energy resource or some geopolitical significance.

There are good Muslims and they form the majority, you don´t have to try to tame them any further. They are already humiliated sufficiently. Just close the doors of your boring country to all Muslims and enjoy life the best you can. If this is what you are trying to achieve.

What sort of a problem do you have with MeDanone, can I be of any help?

Good news for his supporters seeking to ride the gravy train.

Check out this link:

http://www.tripadvisor.com.tr/Restaurant_Review-g293974-d814707-Reviews-Pasazade_Restaurant_Ottoman_Cuisine-Istanbul.html

It is not so easy to find a vegetarian restaurant in Istanbul for us the residents.

That´s great news for low life forms.

I am not patronizing you. There is something wrong with your choice of vocabulary here. You are also not completely correct about Miles Davis, the correct wording must be: a timeless musician. He continued being productive for nearly five decades. All his periods were worth listening to.

I am also a keen Jazz enthusiast. My favourite musicians are Theolonious Monk, Miles Davis, C. Parker, Duke Ellington among others. I have about 200 LP´s in my collection. They call me Mr. Jazz man.