Madam, - I have recently returned to Istanbul after a trip home and I would like to comment on the series of articles, particularly those on Turkey, entitled "Under the Crescent: The Faces of Islam". In the current climate it is a relief to read such well-researched pieces that break through the lazy, sensationalist, all-too-typical Western media view of Islam.
As an Irish expatriate living in a predominantly Muslim, yet fiercely secular society that has a truly multilayered identity, I was delighted to read Mary Fitzgerald's balanced and informative articles. I hope that more voices like this can help in generating a better understanding of Islam as it is really lived in Turkey today.
The likes of the casual, ill-informed prejudice I see towards Muslims on my home "Christian" turf is thankfully something I have never encountered in this vigorous and diverse city of Istanbul. Maybe it is we who suffer from the narrow religious vision we so readily associate with all things Muslim. - Yours, etc,
MAJELLA BEIRNE, Istanbul, Turkey.