Turkey's Modernization - After Kemal Ataturk took power in the 1920s he changed Turkey. Four of the things he did was 1) Adopt the Roman alphabet, 2) Islam lost status as the state religion, 3) Emanciption of women, and 4) replaced the Sharia (Islamic criminal code) with a modified western version. The change worked in Turkey because the people were ready for this change.

Iranian Revolution - Shah Reza Pahlavi tried to change Iran the way that Ataturk changed Turkey. Where it worked in Turkey, it failed in Iran. Pahlavi was forced to flee the country and the Ayatollah Khomeini took power. Khomeini was in self-exile in France. Iran changed from a monarchy to a fundamentalist state.

Mujahadeen - The organized resistance in Afghanistan to the Soviet invasion. They successfully fought the invasion for 10 years (with help from the US)

Kemal Ataturk - Once the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I, there was a civil war. Ataturk, with the help of the military, won the civil war and took control of Turkey. He had a plan to change the country for the better (see Turkey's Modernization above).

Welfare Party - A group in Turkey that wants to turn Turkey into a non-secular state. Rather than do it through revolution, bloodshed and violence, they instead are doing it politically.

Kurds - A group of non-Arab Muslims in the Middle East. They are found in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. They are treated badly by everyone.

War between Iran and Iraq - When Khomeini took power in the 1970s and Iran was in a state of confusion, Saddam Hussein took it upon himself to invade the country. There was several border disputes between the two countries, and Hussein figured that he would be entrenched in Iran and they wouldn't be able to remove him. What happened was that the war started as a land dispute and turned into a holy war. Iran was Shi-ite and Iraq was mostly Sunni.

Taliban - After the Russians retreated, there was a civil war in Afghanistan. The Taliban won the civil war and took control of Afghanistan until they were removed from power by the US in 2003.

Shah Reza Pahlavi - The last king of the Persian Empire (Iran). He tried to change the country like Turkey and it really didn't work.

Ayatollah Khomeini - The leader of a resistance in Iran that helped to overthrow the Shah (Pahlavi). He turned Iran into an fundamentalist republic.

Monotheism vs. Polytheism - Monotheism is the belief in one God, while polytheism is the belief in many Gods.