Time to stop and think deeply

The terror attacks in Paris have resulted in much commentary among Islamists and Islamic intellectuals and commentators in Turkey. There is little that is new in Islamist quarters, of course. One reads the usual litany, if one may use the term, blaming the West for crimes against the Islamic world and its wily designs on the Middle East.

?brahim Karagül, the editor of the pro-government Yeni ?afak, for example, wrote on Monday that Muslims will not apologize for the Paris attack, and said it is the West that must apologize for all its crimes against the Islamic world.

There are also those, even in the Justice and Development Party (AKP), who believe that the attack against Charlie Hebdo was staged by the French deep state to increase Islamophobia. Such an approach will not contribute much to peace and amity between the Islamic world and the rest.

Neither will it make life for Muslims in Europe or the Middle East easier. There are, however, Islamic intellectuals who have started to see this. They are not only exhorting unconditional condemnation of attacks such as the one in Paris, but are also wondering what is next for the Islamic world given the growing enmity in the non-Islamic world toward their religion.

It is obvious that social injustice, economic deprivation and the resulting sense of having nothing to lose drive many young Muslims to radicalism. This is a problem the Islamic world has to face within itself. It is also a problem the West has to face within its own boundaries.

The ideology used by radicals in this case is Islam, of course, and many moderate Muslims believe that their religion has been hijacked to justify inhuman behavior. "Terrorism is not compatible with Islam" has become their slogan.