Hans-Peter Geissen

Articles de cet auteur (35)

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  The nature of Asia Minor (1)

  19 October 2007

  Regarding the meaning of the terms erep and assu, as well as their descendants Europa and Asia, and then Occidens and Oriens, we find that they mean directions; that is, they are relative terms the exact meaning of which depends on the (normal) position of the speaker, on his or her subjectivity.
  In later times, these terms seem to be more fixed, to become “immovables”, spatial entities in their own right. But in fact this process is governed by the naivety of the “speaker”, who assumes (...)

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  Eternity or the elephant’s coins

  5 October 2007

  It was on this site quite early (Jean Quatremer, « La Turquie exclue volontairement de l’euro », lundi 6 août 2007), and has now found a broader interest in the press both in Turkey and internationally: On the next generation of Euro coins, Turkey shall be wiped from European geography, while Cyprus is removed from its real geographic position to be closer to Greece than to (the no longer visible) Turkey.
  Of course, this has nothing to do with geography and its representation on coins. It (...)

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  The ballad of Erdogan and Gül

  6 September 2007

  In an earlier letter I tried to show why there are criteria to distinguish, in Turkey, a policy of democratization from one of Sunnitization, and how this is possible irrespective of the fact that in a country with a Sunni majority these options may frequently appear indistinguishable.
  Those objective criteria, specified for the political sphere, are related to the questions of wether
  the political participation of the “heterodox” minority is increased - or not
  the political role of (...)

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  A propos Nicolas Sarkozy and the problem of the borders (2)

  14 August 2007

  Historical Europe
  However, we know that the basic shoot of modern political Europe was already formed a century earlier, in the formula of a “concert” of the European powers. Here we’re in the fields of the military, diplomacy, trade policy, and territorial order, each with some practical link to geography. As we are currently dealing with a union of states, these sectors are of utmost importance. Several features of that concert should be remembered.
  1. All the capitals of the powers (...)

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  A propos Nicolas Sarkozy and the problem of the borders (1)

  10 August 2007

  As a president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy is certainly someone whose words should be taken serious. Though, as a German observing affairs in Turkey, sometimes I may find it difficult to do so, insofar as what arrives at my eyes or ears is a very small selection of what becomes known in France itself, and such fragments may be selected in either a one-sided or an occasional manner. The usual escape from such a problem is to mention the proverb that “deeds speak louder than words”, as relevant (...)

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  Nation and Islam in modern Turkey

  19 May 2007

  Already last year (at the occasion of demonstrations following the “court-shooting” in Ankara) I insisted that, though the occasion may have been manipulated by certain “dark forces”, the adherents of marginal ideologies and profiteers of state- or rent-capitalism by definition cannot make for such a large crowd and that, thus, there are (were) definitely sincere concerns behind that event.
  Hans-Peter Geissen lives in Koblenz (Germany), at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. (...)

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  Europe – with or without which borders ? Some considerations (3)

  30 novembre 2006

  « The European prospects of the region between Turkey and Russia depend primarily on Turkey, and then on their own internal relations. But the whole of relations between union-Europe and Russia will certainly not just also have a role in that, but generally remain the most important strategical problem of Europe in terms of security, and probably also of economy and anything else », wrote Hans-Peter Geissen as a conclusion of the second part of his series regarding the borders of Europe. (...)

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  Europe – with or without which borders ? Some considerations (2)

  24 November 2006

  “So, while communication culture is certainly of prime importance to describe how Europe is, it is hardly appropriate to say what it basically is. And while it is also important as an advice of how to make a political Europe, as a definition it would make a separate political Europe, rivaling the United Nations, pointless and questionable,” wrote Hans-Peter Geissen as a conclusion of the first part of his last contribution to Turquie Européenne. It is now hight time to bend on the possibility (...)

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  Europe – with or without which borders ? Some considerations (1)

  15 November 2006

  Recently, quite some medium to high ranking politicians of European countries have raised the question of Europe’s geographical borders. To start with it, common or popular wisdom has it that Europe is a continent. Quite fortunately, it is extremely easy to draw the borders of a continent.
  The continent
  “Continent”, an abbreviation of “terra continens” (Latin for “coherent land”), means a coherent land mass. The borders of a continent, thus, are its maritime shores. In this sense, the Britons (...)

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  About the identity of Europe : why it is a problem ? (2)

  31 October 2006

  «The role of Islam in the emergence of the Christian Humanism and the enlightenment was largely omitted and forgotten : Islamic theology could not take place in Christian Europe as no Muslims had been allowed to survive...»
  Hans-Peter Geissen lives in Koblenz (Germany), at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. Interested in all what concerns faunistics (data about animal species) of the Midrhine region, he is the author of many scientific publications on these issues. He bent on (...)

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