![\"TurkeyIranFlag1\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/TurkeyIranFlag1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe detention of 25 Turkish students who visited Iran on suspicion they had been used for spying and propaganda activities reveals how tense Iran-Turkey relations actually have become. (photo by naturalgasasia.com)<\/p>\n
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By: Tulin Daloglu for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on October 4.<\/p>\n
Since the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002, there has been much debate about Turkey\u2019s\u00a0deepening identity crisis. Domestically, people are increasingly divided about\u00a0the role of religion in political and civil life. Internationally, there have been\u00a0allegations about Turkey\u2019s\u00a0tendencies toward moving away from its traditional Western alliance. While there is nothing surprising in all of this, since secularism has been one of the most contested components in this country\u2019s political life since its establishment in 1923, what is intriguing is that the lack of debate about the strength of the people\u2019s\u00a0loyalty\u00a0to Sunni traditions.<\/p>\n
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE<\/p>\n
Summary :<\/p>\n
The detention of 25 Turkish students who visited Iran on suspicion they had been used for spying and propaganda activities reveals how tense Iran-Turkey relations actually have become.<\/p>\n
Author: Tulin Daloglu<\/p>\n
Posted on: October 4 2013<\/p>\n
Categories : Originals Turkey \u00a0 Iran \u00a0 Security<\/p>\n
Despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan government\u2019s opening to Iran within the framework of its \u201czero problems with neighbors\u201d\u00a0policy,\u00a0Turkey reminds us often that these two countries have never fought a war since the 1514\u00a0Battle of Chaldoran,\u00a0where the Ottomans defeated the Safavid Empire. Although there may be a different reading of this historical record, too, one thing is clear: Since that battle, the Ottomans and the Persians have been divided as being the representatives\u00a0of the Sunni and Shiite worlds, and they chose to keep their relationship at a controlled distance. That distance did not change after the foundation of the Turkish Republic from the ashes of a defeated Ottoman Empire.<\/p>\n
So when Turkish authorities on Sept. 12 detained 25 Turkish students, ages 13-19, returning at the Gurbulak border gate from their 20-day study trip in Iran on the suspicion that they had been\u00a0used for spying\u00a0and propaganda activities, one needed to\u00a0recall\u00a0the\u00a0long, historic perspective. Despite all the\u00a0talks of brotherly bonding, there always has been a different underlying current between Ankara and Tehran. Although those\u00a0students were quickly released after some questioning, pending further investigation, the leader of the group \u2014 identified only by the initials K.A. \u2014 was arrested. He said the Istanbul branch of Iran\u2019s Camia-tul Mustafa University organized the study-course tour. Hurriyet Daily News reported\u00a0that\u00a0the university denies any involvement\u00a0in this trip.<\/p>\n
The students visited various universities, including sacred Shiite venues, over the 20-day course in Iran. They were introduced to the country\u2019s leading religious scholars, and held conversations with them. They also studied political and religious courses. That is to say, from the Iranian perspective, they were shown utmost hospitality and taken good care of.\u00a0From the perspective of Iran\u2019s ambassador in Ankara, Alireza Bikdeli, \u00a0these students are nothing but a bridge helping to strengthen the ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have more than 3,000 Iranian students registered at our embassy starting their school year at the universities here,\u201d Bikdeli told\u00a0Al-Monitor. \u201cUnfortunately though, there are only a few Turkish students in Iranian universities. And the latest news reports about the 25 students\u00a0who visited Iran\u00a0and were detained at the border gate were quite saddening.\u201d The ambassador added: \u201cIf we also take the same path, and decide to interrogate our Iranian students\u00a0about their stay here, we may end up bringing all our interrogation officers to the border with Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, why Iran does not take the same attitude and consider those Iranian students studying in Turkey as potential spies for the Ankara government? Or, why do the Turkish authorities\u00a0worry\u00a0about Turkish students visiting Iran, as if they can betray their country and faith as Sunni Muslims in a matter of 20 days, and move closer to the Iranian regime? Could there be a problem in Turkey regarding its loyalty to secularism and the Sunni faith?<\/p>\n
This issue of arresting those 25 students actually begs answers to questions like the above, and none are easy to answer in some ways. But \u00a0the truth could be quite simple and\u00a0unpleasant\u00a0to admit.<\/p>\n
Tulin Daloglu\u00a0is a columnist for\u00a0Al-Monitor’s\u00a0Turkey Pulse. She has also written extensively for various Turkish and American publications, including\u00a0The New York Times,\u00a0International Herald Tribune,\u00a0The Middle East Times,\u00a0Foreign Policy,\u00a0The Daily Star\u00a0(Lebanon) and the SAIS Turkey Analyst Report. On Twitter:\u00a0@TurkeyPulse<\/p>\n
via Turkey Suspects Turkish Students Who Visited Iran of Espionage – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The detention of 25 Turkish students who visited Iran on suspicion they had been used for spying and propaganda activities reveals how tense Iran-Turkey relations actually have become. (photo by naturalgasasia.com) By: Tulin Daloglu for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse Posted on October 4. Since the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":76822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[7105],"class_list":["post-76820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran_","tag-spying"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}