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TURKEY: OTTOMAN EMPIRE ENJOYS AN IMAGE TURNAROUND AFTER YEARS IN THE CULTURAL WILDERNESS
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer
3:49 AM PDT, August 16, 2010
ISTANBUL (AP) - This month, a troupe of 100 musicians, dancers,
acrobats and robed actors is performing an Ottoman-style spectacle
near Topkapi Palace, once home to the sultans. An exhibition of
Ottoman poetry is on display at Istanbul's international airport.
Ottoman cuisine, a fusion of flavors from old imperial lands, is
in vogue.
It's quite a turnaround. For most of the last century, Turks were told
to look askance at the Ottoman Empire. Nostalgia for the 1453 conquest
of Constantinople and other early triumphs was fine - but the excesses
of the sultans were the stuff of decay, no model for modern Turkey.
Today, the legacy of the Ottomans is enjoying a makeover.
Turkey is a regional power that no longer sees itself as a junior
partner of the West. Its diplomats and entrepreneurs reach out to Iraq,
Iran, Syria and other lands once ruled from the Ottoman court.
The roots of this confident campaign lie partly in the protocol,
pluralism and Islamic piety of the imperial past.
These selective views, the old and the new, mirror a contemporary clash
over Turkey's identity. It pits old secular elites in state entities
such as the courts and military against an educated class of devout
Muslims that has controlled the government since election in 2002.
"This is a point of real contestation: what is the Ottoman Empire
for Turkey?" said Donald Quataert, author of "The Ottoman Empire,
1700-1922" and a longtime researcher into the lives of Ottoman peasants
and workers. "They've been arguing about this for 100 years.
It's been going back and forth."
At one time, the Ottoman sultans commanded vast swaths of territory
from Istanbul, which spans the European and Asian continents. Their
armies marched as far as the gates of Vienna. The rise of European
powers compounded their decline, and the empire dissolved in war
and chaos at the beginning of the 20th century. The mass killing of
Armenians, deemed a genocide by many international experts despite
Turkish objections, happened in the last years of Ottoman rule.
Any discussion of its legacy must include Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a
war hero who founded the Turkish republic in 1923 as colonial powers
gobbled up former Ottoman territories. He abolished the caliphate and
its traditions of dress and language, viewed as symbols of stagnation.
Secularism was the creed, the West was the model.
Today, Ataturk's image adorns state offices, shops and many private
homes. Roads and sports stadiums bear his name. A huge mausoleum in
the capital, Ankara, harbors his remains, and most visiting foreign
dignitaries are expected to pay tribute. It is a crime in Turkey to
insult the memory of Ataturk, whose name means "father of the Turks."
Many Turks, including those who resent how he curtailed religious
expression, believe Ataturk saved Turkey in a time of crisis. But
increasingly, even staunch supporters admit unquestioning devotion
is out of sync with democracy.
"The changes of the republic, like many other things in this country,
were imposed from the top and not designed by the public itself, and
this is a bad habit of our people," said Ahmet Hicyilmaz, a publicist
in Istanbul.
Ataturk's unrelenting nationalism allowed little room for minority
rights, seen as a dire threat to state unity. Ottoman advocates,
however, note the sultans were generally tolerant of Christians and
other minorities in a tactic that may have extended the empire's life.
On Sunday, for the first time since the fall of the empire, Orthodox
Christians led by their spiritual leader, Patriarch Bartholomew I, held
a Mass at an ancient monastery cut into the side of a mountain near the
Black Sea. The Byzantine-era monastery of Sumela was abandoned in 1923.
Turkish nationalists have objected to Bartholomew using the term
"ecumenical" to describe his Istanbul-based patriarchate, fearing
it implies a Vatican-style state on Turkish soil. But Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Ottoman times when asked about the
matter by a journalist during a May visit to Greece.
"When it comes to the question of ecumenical, if the term did not
bother my ancestors, than it does not bother me," Erdogan said,
using an Ottoman-era term for ancestor - "ecdad" - instead of the
modern Turkish term, "ata."
Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel, has cited the Ottoman Empire as
evidence that Turks are not anti-Semitic. Many of Turkey's Jews trace
roots to Spain, where Jews fled persecution in the 15th century and
were welcomed by the Ottomans.
"Republican history taught the Ottoman era in a very backward
and negative light," Suat Kiniklioglu, a member of the Turkish
parliament's foreign affairs committee, wrote in an email to the
Associated Press. "We are now correcting the imbalance on our
historical perceptions."
The Islamic-oriented government, however, objects to the term
"neo-Ottoman," which has been used by some commentators to describe
Turkey's outreach to former colonies. Turkey says it has no hegemonic
intent.
Even Kurdish rebels fighting the Turkish state for autonomy are looking
to imperial history to press their case. A recent rebel statement
quoted a top leader, Murat Karayilan, as saying Kurds always enjoyed
autonomy under Ottoman rule.
Now that the Ottomans are back in favor, there is the danger of
glossing things over. Many Turks know Piri Reis, an admiral and
mapmaker, as a key figure in Ottoman marine history. Fewer know that
he was beheaded after a falling out with authorities.
Historian Ilber Ortayli, head of the museum at Topkapi Palace, said
the Ottoman empire was the "basic identity" of the Turkish people,
excluding some minority groups. He said Turks were studying the period
in earnest, though the road to full understanding was long.
"We didn't learn it well," he said. "Our knowledge is full of mistakes
and black holes."
From: A. Papazian
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer
3:49 AM PDT, August 16, 2010
ISTANBUL (AP) - This month, a troupe of 100 musicians, dancers,
acrobats and robed actors is performing an Ottoman-style spectacle
near Topkapi Palace, once home to the sultans. An exhibition of
Ottoman poetry is on display at Istanbul's international airport.
Ottoman cuisine, a fusion of flavors from old imperial lands, is
in vogue.
It's quite a turnaround. For most of the last century, Turks were told
to look askance at the Ottoman Empire. Nostalgia for the 1453 conquest
of Constantinople and other early triumphs was fine - but the excesses
of the sultans were the stuff of decay, no model for modern Turkey.
Today, the legacy of the Ottomans is enjoying a makeover.
Turkey is a regional power that no longer sees itself as a junior
partner of the West. Its diplomats and entrepreneurs reach out to Iraq,
Iran, Syria and other lands once ruled from the Ottoman court.
The roots of this confident campaign lie partly in the protocol,
pluralism and Islamic piety of the imperial past.
These selective views, the old and the new, mirror a contemporary clash
over Turkey's identity. It pits old secular elites in state entities
such as the courts and military against an educated class of devout
Muslims that has controlled the government since election in 2002.
"This is a point of real contestation: what is the Ottoman Empire
for Turkey?" said Donald Quataert, author of "The Ottoman Empire,
1700-1922" and a longtime researcher into the lives of Ottoman peasants
and workers. "They've been arguing about this for 100 years.
It's been going back and forth."
At one time, the Ottoman sultans commanded vast swaths of territory
from Istanbul, which spans the European and Asian continents. Their
armies marched as far as the gates of Vienna. The rise of European
powers compounded their decline, and the empire dissolved in war
and chaos at the beginning of the 20th century. The mass killing of
Armenians, deemed a genocide by many international experts despite
Turkish objections, happened in the last years of Ottoman rule.
Any discussion of its legacy must include Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a
war hero who founded the Turkish republic in 1923 as colonial powers
gobbled up former Ottoman territories. He abolished the caliphate and
its traditions of dress and language, viewed as symbols of stagnation.
Secularism was the creed, the West was the model.
Today, Ataturk's image adorns state offices, shops and many private
homes. Roads and sports stadiums bear his name. A huge mausoleum in
the capital, Ankara, harbors his remains, and most visiting foreign
dignitaries are expected to pay tribute. It is a crime in Turkey to
insult the memory of Ataturk, whose name means "father of the Turks."
Many Turks, including those who resent how he curtailed religious
expression, believe Ataturk saved Turkey in a time of crisis. But
increasingly, even staunch supporters admit unquestioning devotion
is out of sync with democracy.
"The changes of the republic, like many other things in this country,
were imposed from the top and not designed by the public itself, and
this is a bad habit of our people," said Ahmet Hicyilmaz, a publicist
in Istanbul.
Ataturk's unrelenting nationalism allowed little room for minority
rights, seen as a dire threat to state unity. Ottoman advocates,
however, note the sultans were generally tolerant of Christians and
other minorities in a tactic that may have extended the empire's life.
On Sunday, for the first time since the fall of the empire, Orthodox
Christians led by their spiritual leader, Patriarch Bartholomew I, held
a Mass at an ancient monastery cut into the side of a mountain near the
Black Sea. The Byzantine-era monastery of Sumela was abandoned in 1923.
Turkish nationalists have objected to Bartholomew using the term
"ecumenical" to describe his Istanbul-based patriarchate, fearing
it implies a Vatican-style state on Turkish soil. But Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Ottoman times when asked about the
matter by a journalist during a May visit to Greece.
"When it comes to the question of ecumenical, if the term did not
bother my ancestors, than it does not bother me," Erdogan said,
using an Ottoman-era term for ancestor - "ecdad" - instead of the
modern Turkish term, "ata."
Erdogan, a fierce critic of Israel, has cited the Ottoman Empire as
evidence that Turks are not anti-Semitic. Many of Turkey's Jews trace
roots to Spain, where Jews fled persecution in the 15th century and
were welcomed by the Ottomans.
"Republican history taught the Ottoman era in a very backward
and negative light," Suat Kiniklioglu, a member of the Turkish
parliament's foreign affairs committee, wrote in an email to the
Associated Press. "We are now correcting the imbalance on our
historical perceptions."
The Islamic-oriented government, however, objects to the term
"neo-Ottoman," which has been used by some commentators to describe
Turkey's outreach to former colonies. Turkey says it has no hegemonic
intent.
Even Kurdish rebels fighting the Turkish state for autonomy are looking
to imperial history to press their case. A recent rebel statement
quoted a top leader, Murat Karayilan, as saying Kurds always enjoyed
autonomy under Ottoman rule.
Now that the Ottomans are back in favor, there is the danger of
glossing things over. Many Turks know Piri Reis, an admiral and
mapmaker, as a key figure in Ottoman marine history. Fewer know that
he was beheaded after a falling out with authorities.
Historian Ilber Ortayli, head of the museum at Topkapi Palace, said
the Ottoman empire was the "basic identity" of the Turkish people,
excluding some minority groups. He said Turks were studying the period
in earnest, though the road to full understanding was long.
"We didn't learn it well," he said. "Our knowledge is full of mistakes
and black holes."
From: A. Papazian