Abdul Turay

Thatcher's Legacy to Britain, Estonia and the World Published Postimees 13 April 2013  For Estonia, Baroness Thatcher legacy is largely good. She was a tireless crusader against the Soviet Empire and against socialism which she always hated. Her robust foreign policy in Ireland, the Falkland Island and elsewhere led to the West standing up to and defeating communism. She could not have anticipated the collapse of the Soviet Union but that's what ended up happening. Margaret Thatcher's economic policies were the template, Mart Laar and others followed to transform the Estonian economy in the 90s. In Britain the reaction to the Baroness's death has been mixed, some mourned, others celebrated. To understand why, you have know what was going on in Britain before and what has happened subsequently. I will begin. Britain before Thatcher was a pretty depressing place. The country was going to hell, a child could notice it. My earliest memories are of sitting ...

The Conservative solution Published Postimees 31 March 2013  I really struggled with this article. As a non-Estonian I have always felt I have no right to suggest things. I comment, I ask questions. But I am now a permanent resident, I have family ties here and I am paying my taxes so here it goes. Like many people I got a letter last week from a lobby group calling itself the "Foundation for the Family and the Defence of Traditions". As we all know these people oppose the draft proposal for neutral gender civil unions. Over the past few years, the row over the issue has swallowed up the debate over every other type of minority right. A student who wanted to interview me about minority rights, ended up spending the whole interview talking about gay rights. He really was not interested in anything else. Like most people from my background, I am a social conservative and economically social liberal. For example, I support the monarchy, I was a litt...

Conservative Solutions The big issue in Estonia now is rights cohabitation rights for same-sex couple. An opinion pieces on this subject. Britain and Referunda Why Cameron will lose the next election and we will have a government more favourable to Europe and Estonia...   Read on  The Second Sex We are are told that we live in a male dominated society, that men have it easier than women; there are people who make a living by telling us this. I think that men have it tough and the situation is getting worse. I believe that feminism., or at least the radical form of it that has come to dominate, is wrong., and the effects of feminism that are causing great harm in my own country and in the rest of the Anglo-sphere are beginning to crop up here .. Read on Chartist versus the World It was just perfect timing, I write a book discussing amongst other things, whether Estonian political culture is failing on not, and a month later, some of the country's leading minds, let'...

Britain and Referenda Published Postimees 20 February 2013 Normally I write only about Estonian issues, when I a write about my country there is something important needs covering. Which bring me to the UK relationship with Europe. It effects us all so I hope you will bear with me. As readers will know, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron announced last month that if he wins the next election in 2015, he will renegotiate existing treaties with Europe and then hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. There has been a ton analyse on TV and in the Estonian press about this. It could lead to a breakup of Europe. It isn't helping things, that's for sure. There isn't go to be any referendum. The referendum is contingent on the conservatives winning the next election. By caving into the ardent Eurosceptics in his own party, Cameron has just guaranteed that he, and his party, will lose. The reasons are complex and I wil...

The second sex Published Postimees 16 January 2013 One issue scares the hell out of me. Men's rights. We are are told that we live in a male dominated society, that men have it easier than women; there are people who make a living by telling us this. In Estonia there are a dozen organisation dealing with women's rights there is even a gender studies unit (i.e. women's studies unit) at Tartu University, but there isn't yet far as I am aware, and I have checked, even one organisation dealing with men's right. It is inevitable that anybody who challenges this hegemony will come in for a barrage of criticism from an army of well-funded groups. When men's rights are discussed, it is in the context of men's health. Men are dying off. Men die younger and are more likely to commit suicide than women. Even God it seems is against men. Last week January 10 2012, for example the ministry of internal affairs published figures that show, ...

Chartists versus the World Published Postimees 13 December 2012 This week December 13 2012  my book “A small white nation” comes out. In the book, I examine Estonia's place in the World. How and why Estonia has moved from being a country at the periphery to the very centre of the debate of how the world ought to be run. There is more story telling in the book than I normally write. I am quite sure I will enrage some people and shock others. One thing I described so shocked my editor that she refused to believe it was true. “Are you really sure it happened?” she kept asking me over and over again. I leave you to guess what it is but you have to read the book. But there is one thing that has been left out. I don't write about Charter 12. The simple reason is when I handed the manuscript in to my publishers it didn't exist yet. It was just perfect timing, I write a book discussing amongst other things, whether Estonian political culture is f...