IRAN

Commenting on Islam, Europe's Second Religion, which provoked the comments by Christopher Jones to which Phyllis Gardner objected, Philip Terzian says :"Shireen Hunter once told me she is an Azerbaijan. As a half-Armenian I sympathize with a Germany overrun by Turks, but I think referring to Islam as a "retarded religion ... stunted in the Middle Ages" is a bit much. Would that Christianity were more medieval than it is". RH: This brings up the complicated question of the ethnic diversity of Iran, which explains why democracy has such a hard time there. The population of Iran is over 70 million, and is growing. The majority are of Aryan heritage, but the Azerbaijan, whoi speak a Turkic language, represent about a quarter of the population. They live in the northwest, and are related to the people of Azerbaijan. In the Soviet period, their relationship was a problem. I have no information on the present relationship. The Iranian government makes an effort to assimilate the Azerbaijan, and Shireen Hunter was in the foreign service.

As for Philip's last remark about "medieval", we must remember that he is a high Episcopalian, and I agree with him. The Middle Ages were a great period in the history of Europe, and the use of the word in a derogatory sense is unfair. It is comparable to speaking of "Gothic" architecture, an ahistorfic term invented to imply that it was barbaric.

Ronald Hilton - 2/11/03