The Ottomans/Turkey's future

There's an aspect of Turkey that I have barely mentioned until this post. Mainly because my area of interest is Kemailist Turkey. But I would like to take some time to talk about the Ottoman Empire and its achievements. The photo is of me standing in front of Dolmabache Palace, the final resisdence of the Ottoman Sultans until Atatürk abolished the Sultanate in 1922. I believe he was right to abolish the Sultanate and declare Turkey a republic. The times had demanded it.

But that does not take away from the marvel that is Ottoman history. The Ottomans managed to build an empire, become the leaders of the Muslim world, become a haven for religious tolerance in their realms, and solidify Anatolia's link with the Middle East and Europe. Phenomenal achievements!

1451 say the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Fatih Mehmet. The Turks conquered the city bringing an end to the ancient Greek Byzantine Empire. Constantinople became the jewel in the Ottoman crown. Curiously enough, the prophet Mohammad is said to have predicted that the Muslims would conquer Constantinople. Fatih Mehmet is a legendary figure, still revered by the Turks. In his conquest, Fatih Mehmet personally had the Christians in the newly conquered realms protected by law. There's even on decree from him staying that a monastery and the monks living in it are under his personal protection.

In a time when Europe was torn apart by religious strife, the Ottomans were known for their religious tolerance. Of course, Islam was the state religion, but there were autonomous communities of Christians and Jews who played an important role in the society of the Ottoman Empire. Many religious Turks I have spoken with always cite the toleration of the Ottomans for other religions. That's the importance of the Ottoman empire, because I believe it gives us a glimpse into how the religious Muslims want to be. People say Turkey is in danger of becoming the "2nd Iran." I don't belive this is true.

I believe that the Ottoman nostalgia that many religious Turks share is based on what made the empire great: tolerance and openess. They look to a time when Islam was indeed about peace, progress, and most of all innovation. The Ottoman empire was great because it was innovative, it reinvented itself many times. It's static periods resulted in its decline.

I would count myself in the secular camp. But I am starting to understand the religious Turks' point of view. Our image of Islam in the west: terror, oppression, violence, is not what religious Turks want. In fact, terrorism would be something completely alien to the Ottomans. The religious Turks, from my experience, don't want radical change. They want a society that recognizes their religious rights while still maintaining its open and democratic character. I'm not clear what they believe about secularism. But a very good friend, who is religious, told me that it is not desirable nor probable that the constitution will be changed in favor of a religious state. I don't think so either. I think Turkey is unique in that it will balance secularism and Islam, it has the national character to balance these two ideas. In that, the Ottomans are to be respected. They left a legacy of religious piety without religious extremism. They truly created a pragmatic synthesis.