YAŞAR NURİ ÖZTÜRK
(Theologian, lawyer, columnist, member of parliament)

In the survey conducted by Time Magazine of "The Most Important People of the 20th Century," under the heading, "The Most Important Scientists and Healers," Yaşar Nuri Öztürk has since 2001 occupied a place in the top ten out of 100 names designated by world public opinion.

He was born and raised in Turkey's Black Sea region.

He has served as both faculty member and dean in the Turkish university system for over 26 years. He taught Islamic Thought at the Theological Seminary of Barrytown in New York for one year as guest professor, during which time he also made major contributions to the Islamic section of the anthology, "The World Scripture."

He has given many conferences on Islamic thought, humanity and human rights in Turkey, the USA, Europe, the Middle East and the Balkans.

He is also known as the first scholar to have produced a Turkish translation of the Qur'an that is free of ideological interpretation. This translation, which went into 126 printings between 1993 and 2003, is recognized as the most printed book in the history of the Turkish Republic.

His lengthy articles, such as "Islam and Europe," (Die Zeit, February 20, 2003); "Islam and Democracy," ["Desperately Seeking Europe," London (Archetype Publications), 2003, pp. 198-210; Europa Leidenschaftlich Gesucht, Munchen-Zurich, (Piper Verlag) 2003, pp. 210-224] along with the extensive interviews he has given on the subjects of Islam, the West and secularism [for example, see "al-Ahram" (weekly), February 1-7, 2001] have had a deep impact in both the West and the Islamic world.

His books, which have been published in Turkish, German, English and Persian, number more than 30. His magnum opus, "The Islam of the Qur'an," is considered one of the pioneering works of the "Back to the Qur'an" movement. Öztürk's role in and contributions to this movement, along with the world of his thought, have been the subject of a large number of theses in Turkish, German, English and French at various international universities.

Having been elected to the Turkish Parliament in 2002 as a representative of the Republican Peoples' Party, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Öztürk has now added political action to his scholarly and intellectual activities.

The articles, poetry and interviews that have been published on Öztürk in the Turkish and international press now make up a rich archive, and an independent effort is in progress to assemble it all into book form.

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