Why is the Taliban resurgent in Pakistan? Some observers point to the influence of the madrassa, or Islamic religious school, as a factor in developing Islamic radicals. Javed Soomro, a senior producer for the BBC's Urdu Service, has heard from people who say a madrassa is simply a religious school and those who see them as incubators for terrorists. He decided to see for himself, so he got permission to spend two weeks at the largest madrassa in Pakistan’s capital, Karachi. He joins The Takeaway with his view from the inside.

In another indication of the gathering strength of the insurgency, Taliban militants have taken control of a gateway district close to the Pakistani capital. The district of Buner, home to almost one million, is just seventy miles from Islamabad and leads to speculation that the Taliban could be making plans for a move on the city. This increases concern that the government is unprepared to fend off the strategic advances of the Taliban. Now, U.S. officials are questioning the government's willingness to take on the insurgents. Both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have warned of the consequences, Secretary Clinton went so far as to call it an "existential threat". So is Pakistan fighting for its very existence?

To help us understand the Pakistani point of view of the Taliban insurgency and the government's reaction, we turn to Ambassador Munir Akram. Ambassador Akram was Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations from 2002-2008.

**UPDATE: Pakistani officials and international press outlets are reporting that Taliban militants have begun withdrawing from the Buner district.**

Watch Secretary of State Clinton's comments on the situation in Pakistan below.

President Obama is on his second full day of his visit to Turkey. He finished his trip with a town hall meeting with students and an appeal to Turkish youth. The President said he understands the frustrations felt in the Muslim world about some of America's actions and that he wants to turn the page. So how are Turks reacting to the new President? Are they ready to turn the page and renew ties with America? To help answer that question, we are joined by journalist Asli Aydintasbas, who wrote an op-ed in yesterday's New York Times, and Jeff McAllister, BBC political commentator.

For more, read Asli Aydintasbas' op-ed piece, Turkey in Full in the New York Times.

Here is Al-Jazeera's report on the protests that greeted President Obama's visit to Turkey:

If Turkey succeeds in its bid to join the European Union, it would become the most populous state in the EU. But European countries are divided over the issue of allowing a predominantly Muslim country gain such a powerful role. Nowhere is the debate over this more heated than in the Netherlands, where an increasing Muslim population has caused a populist backlash and a string of high profile murders in recent years. We talk to the Dutch Minister for European Affairs, Frans Timmermans, who is in the U.S. to promote the economic benefits of tolerance.


This 2008 news report from Russia Today documents the increasing divide over the growth of Islamic communities in The Netherlands.

It is the second full day of President Obama's visit to Turkey, the last stop on an eight-day European tour that included stops at the G-20 summit and the NATO 60th anniversary meeting. He is wrapping up his visit with an appeal to Turkish youth a town hall-style meeting. But arguably the most important thing President Obama did on his trip was his visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul today. The Blue Mosque is of huge symbolic value and religious importance to the Islamic world, having survived for through hundreds of years of upheaval in the region. His visit to Turkey is seen as an attempt to renew a flagging relationship with an important Islamic ally, so what does President Obama's action symbolize? We go to Istanbul for the answer with Turkish journalist, Mithat Bereket, formerly of CNN Turkey who is now on Pusula-TV, a private television station.

Monday's attack on a police academy in Lahore, Pakistan revealed the continuing security problems that Pakistan faces. As President Obama reimagines our engagement with Pakistan, Afghanistan and the entire region, we talk with Emile Nakhleh, former Senior Intelligence Officer and Director of the Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program in the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence and author of A Necessary Engagement: Reinventing America’s Relations with the Muslim World.