Ahmet Hakan: Well, Huntington's wife is of Armenian origin

Well, we've come May's end, but we still haven't see the "sunny beautiful days" of the season. So, we're a little depressed about that. Anyway, I attended the conference with Samuel Huntington, author of "The Clash of Civilizations." And actually, had the weather been nice, I would have let it all pass, saying "Aw, never mind the civilizations, let 'em crash man." But, as I said, the weather was cloudy."With the ending of the Cold War, ideological clashes are a thing of the past, and from now on, the defining aspect of international politics will be the clash of civilizations." Yes, this thesis thrown out there by Huntington 9 years ago, and used by Prime Minister Erdogan when he says "We don't want a clash of civilizations" has become really quite popular in our country.  I thought it was interesting that no one from the AKP came to listen to Huntington. I looked especially for Professor Ahmet Davutoglu, consultant to the Prime Minister on foreign relations, and author of many effective articles against Huntington's thesis. Had there been anyone there from the AKP, they might have noted Huntington's assertion that "Europe will not accept Turkey because of cultural and religious differences. Turkey's chances of entering the EU are nonexistant."  ***** Let me add a little note of gossip here. The famed political scientist's wife is Armenian in heritage. At the beginning of the conference, Huntington said "It is wonderful to be in this attractive cosmopolitan city which is such a meeting point for East and West." Then he added, "My only disappointment is that I have only 24 hours here. But I hope to return here soon with my wife, who loves and is very interested in this city." Here, he strayed from his prepared text, and said "Since my wife is actually of Armenian origin...." Interesting that the man, whose life's work revolves around the "clash of civilizations" thesis, doesn't forget about it for a moment, even when discussing touristic tours.Â