History revisited in Asia Minor

For more information on the various massacres and details of historical accounts - please see this website.

The uttered word - tactlessness

This is from the man who stated: 

“western democracy is akin to a bus station but the final destination is the Islamic caliphate.”

1. He's at it again but this time at promoting (dreaming of?) a  neo-Ottoman revival and ... He's has upset the Greeks, (again).  Obliviously he does not believe in the laws of reciprocity, (as he so claims).  

"Erdogan said that Thrace is very important to Turkey.

During the municipal elections tour he said that “Thrace is also Thessaloniki, Komotini and Xanthi. It’s Kardzhali and Vardar. If we go a little further it’s Skopje and Pristina, it’s Sarajevo.”

 He continued: “Thrace is the living witness of our common history with Europe. It represents our past in the region. Today, Thrace is in the center of all our Balkan relations along with Adrianople, Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and of course Instanbul.” Source: Greek Reporter, December 2013

 Compare his statement with that of the Greek response by Konstantinos Koutras;

"Today, the only criteria is to abide by the international law and the rules of good neighborly relations based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the nations in the region."

There is a deafening silence in the EU fortress in Brussels and as well NATO.  Erdogan conveniently forgets that once upon a time, Greeks lived in most of modern-day Turkey for a very very long time, in fact up to the 1950's.

2. Previously he went to Kosovo a in late October and managed to upset the Serbs.In Prizren, he uttered the words “Turkey is Kosovo, and Kosovo is Turkey.” Kosovo is seen as being under a Neo-Ottoman tutelage, (not far from the truth given the mosque building & revision of school textbooks. Now, judging back his latest statement, he also include Pristina and also Sarajevo.   He also added that both nations shared the same history and civilization. “My family, I and ministers of my delegation feel like at home. Today I greet all Albanians, Bosnians, Turks and Gorans,” he said. (Look at the flags).  He continued his speech with the need for stability, peace and a mutual future.  There is a glaring disparity in the words spoken. Of course, the Serbian government picked up on this and condemned his words just as the Greeks have done lately.  He also flashed the sign of the rabia, the 4 fingered hand, the synonymous with Egypt's anticoup protests and the Muslim Brotherhood. Additionally, Erdogan was accompanied by the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who said “Erdoğan is our brother who will be with us for better and for worse” in his speech in Prizren.

3. Next clue with regards to the Neo-Ottoman dreamer is from the 6th of June in Istanbul:"I want you to shout so loudly that Sarajevo and Zenica can hear you,". Why would he say that in Istanbul to a Turkish crowd of supporters. It doesn't make sense nor is it a throw-away line, as he had previously mentioned Sarajevo in his election victory speech in 2011. On a visit to Bosnia, Erdogan spoke about the words uttered to him by Izetbegovic, shortly before he died, - "Bosnia is entrusted to you", you being Turkey. That did stir up a debate in the region. To add this is a comment made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who in Sarajevo in 2011:
“In our traditions, we celebrate Eid at home. This is what I am doing, I celebrate the Eid with my family in Sarajevo. Bosnia is our home and Bosnians are our family members.”
 Furthermore, Davutoğlu spoke about "that he wished to see regional cooperation that would enable people to travel from Bosnia to Sudan without a passport". 

By joining the dots, a picture is emerging, some kind of Turkish vision of regional unity and cooperation.  It seems to be based unique on a shared faith too, based on Islamic values. Maybe this vision of cooperation is something of a mirror reflection of what is happening within Turkey's borders.  There has a slow realisation by the Turkish authorities that are not just Turks, per se but there are many different entities and ethnics living in Turkey, all brought together during the Ottoman rule.  This has resulted in moves to recognise these different groups for who they are, drawing upon the common past of the Ottoman period. 

This vision, which is heavily depend on Turkey's historical legacy, is a recurring theme which is being played out across the former lands of the Empire, notably Syria and Egypt of late. It is viewed by some as "Turkish interference" in other countries' internal affairs. What remains to be seen is how serious is this message being considered? This vision is destined to fail if it the diversity of cultures, languages, different religions of both the Balkans and the Middle East is deliberately ignored. 


Footnote:

1.Ahmet Davutoğlu wrote a paper in 1997, " THE CLASH OF INTERESTS: AN EXPLANATION OF THE WORLD (DIS)ORDER", in which he described the following:

The collapse of the Soviet system has strengthened the strategic position of the Muslim world from the following perspectives:

 (iii) the geographical link of Muslim communities in the Balkans (Bosnia-Albania-Kosova-Macedonia-Western Thrace) has become a significant regional access for

Muslims to reach Europe;

2a.   1.6 million migrants coming to Turkey (mostly from the Balkans) between 1923 and the mid-1990s. Getting to Zero Report,The Transatlantic Academy.

2b. Having ruled for the better part of six centuries as the Ottoman empire, Turkey as a post-imperial successor state has now come to demand a certain level of respect in its international dealings. p23, Getting to Zero Report,The Transatlantic Academy.
 

References:

 http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=121375

http://www.tol.org/client/article/24082-kosovo-education-turkey-erdogan.html

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/turkey-egypt-relations.html#

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Special-Feature/Detail/?lng=en&id=155131&contextid774=155131&contextid775=155129&tabid=1453402631

http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AhmetDavutoglu3.pdf

http://www.bosch-stiftung.de/content/language2/downloads/Report_TA_GettingtoZeroFINAL.pdf

one way street of superiority

Hagia Sophia  article

































  

Hagia Sophia had served as a Christian church for hundreds of years before Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. (In fact nearly a 1000 years).

 It would not be the last conversion from church to mosque in Turkey in recent times.

In recent weeks it was announced that the Monastery of Stoudios — the largest Byzantine-era monastery in Istanbul — would be converted into a mosque next year.

It is indeed a litmus test being played by the Turkish authorities to gauge the reaction internally as well as internationally.   It must be remembered that this is just one episode of the "path towards a more Islamification" of the country, specifically a more conservative Sunni trend.

It is certainly a great example of the double standards being applied, mostly on the part of the Turkish authorities, who have a track record in shedding crocodile tears and exclaiming "outrage" at the lack of progress with mosque building, (latest round being directed at Athens), while openly supporting a stronger Islamic ethos throughout the country; to the detriment of other religious minorities.

Religions equality in Turkey is very difficult to define as it is Sunni Islam that dominates and holds sway.  Religious minorities including Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians, Protestants, Syriacs Christians, Jews,and Alevi Muslims face restrictions & regular discrimination. 

FOOTNOTE


http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/10/turkey-urges-christians-join-police.html#

Destruction of cultural heritage

The BBC featured a number of historic building and sites that were destroyed during conflicts.  The series of photographs showed a number of sites across the world, including Mostar bridge, the Bamiyan Buddhist statutes, Coventry Cathedral, the summer palace in Beijing, to name a few.

The photo article was produced as a result of the recent destruction of an historical minaret in ALEPPO.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22290244

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'd like to feature a few more that aren't even mentioned by the BBC. 

TURKEY
Destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey

KOSOVO
Destruction of Orthodox cultural heritage in Kosovo 1999
Article by Robert Fisk

On NATO's KFOR watch - The 15th-century monastery of the Holy Trinity above Musutiste, begun in 1465, has been levelled with explosives. The monastery of the Archangel near Vitina, built in the 14th century, has been looted and burnt. So has the church of the Archangels in Gornje Nerodimlje. And the church of St Paraskeva, near Pec. And the church of St Nicholas in Prekoruplje - razed and its nine 16th-century icons lost, including that of the apostle Thomas.

The HOLY LAND

The Tomb of Joseph (destroyed in 2000) in the Holy Land.

Wait it gets worse!..........

"Something new and destructive became a force within many Muslim communities." The American Muslim website. 30/3/2013 

MECCA 

Destruction of Islamic heritage sites in Mecca. Since the last 50 years and in 2013! Article & photos 

MALI 

2013-Extremists set fire to one of world’s great libraries in Timbuktu http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/mali-extremists-set-fire-to-one-1561032

And on .....

The uttered word - victims

A great deal is mentioned in the Media  about victims and victimization of  Muslims at the hands of the the West,  largely due to political agendas, rather religious agendas.


The 20th century flip side is:

Middle- East /Turkey

1900- 1920
Massacre of Armenian civilians from 1900 onwards.  Spaghanak
1903 pogroms / massacre of 170Baha'i s in Persia
1904 7500 Armenians killed in Sassun.
1908 30000 Armenians killed in Adana.

1909 : pogroms - Kermanshah (Iran) 1909 another 30000 Armenians killed in Cilicia  & more in Adana, along with Americans. 1912 massacre of Christians in Thrace ( followed by expulsions in 1914). 1914 killing of Nestorians in Iraq  (12000 in august) and massacre of Greeks in Foca. 1915 massacre of Armenians throughout Anatolia and beyond. 12000 Armenians soldiers alone were killed in June. 1915 another 250000 Assyrians killed in Iraq. 800 in Salamas. 1918 150 Assyrians murdered including the patriarch. Another 700 killed in Khoi. 1920 massacre of Armenians in Cilicia 1965 pogrom in Aden 1969 execution of Jews in Baghdad  1975 4 killed in Lebanon  1921 - 1950 1921 massacre of Greeks in Samsun. 1922 Christian massacre in Smyrne.  1932 massacre of Assyrians in Iraq 1933 massacre of Nestorians in Iraq. 1933 massacre of Chaldeans in Iraq. (1000) 1937 massacre of Christians in Syria 1941 170 Jews killed in Baghdad  1944 3 Bahais killed in Sharrud 1947130 dead in pogroms in Libya 1947 100 dead in pogroms in Aden 1949 pogroms in Syria   1950 - 1980 1957 7 Baha'is killed in yazd 1958 pogrom in Aden 1961 pogrom in Turkey  1976 massacre of Christians in Lebanon  (over 600) 1977 347 Christians massacred in Lebanon  1978 massacre of Alevis at Marash Turkey 1979 200 Baha'is executed in Iran 1980 7 Baha'is executed in YZad The Caucasus /Central Asia 1918 15000 Armenians killed in Baku 1927 killing of Muslim women for taking off veils (300) in Turkmenistan. North Africa  1934/ 1935 pogroms in Constantine, Algeria 1945 pogroms in Libya 1948 pogroms in Libya , morocco 1948 killing of Jews by Egyptian Muslim brotherhood 1952 anti Jewish and anti Christian pogroms in Suez 1967 pogroms in Tunisia and Libya The Balkans 1941 Christian massacre at Koritska Jama, Bosnia (Handzar and Kama SS Divisions)1941- 1944 massacre of Christian orthodox in Bosnia by Handzar and Kama SS Divisions 1941- 1944 killing of Bosnian Jews, ( 12,000) 1941- 1944  Kosovo Jewish deportation to concentration camps by SS “Skanderbeg". Over 600 Jews perish. July 1994 Over 400 Serbs killed by SS “Skanderbeg" Elsewhere 1964 massacre of Chinese in Indonesia ( 200 -600000)  1971 over 100000 massacred in East Pakistan ( Bangladesh) 1975 200000 Christian killed in the invasion of East Timor 1976 over 30 killed in Philippines