He claimed that there was a risk it could assume an international identity very similar to its main Western competitors, pointing out that al-Jazeera's English-language website relied heavily on Western news agencies.

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When trying to explain the violence of some political Islamists, some Western commentators blame hard economic circumstances, dysfunctional family circumstances, confused identity, the generic alienation of young males and so on.

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By the leading interpreter of Turkish society to the western world, it deals with such familiar Pamuk themes as faith, identity and betrayal.

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It is also central to Islamic identity as the site of brutal conflicts, first with Christian Crusaders and then Western powers.

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