Touch of Meh

A friend of mine asked to publish this article as part of his project. It talks about Islam in Turkey and I hope you find it interesting.

Islam & Turkey

By: Abdulaziz Al K.

The Ottoman Empire:

After the Rashidun Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate, the Caliphate in Hispania, Abbasid Caliphate and Fatimid Caliphate came the Ottoman Empire which lasted from 1299 to 1923. The empire was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic successor to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The new independent Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNA) was internationally recognized with the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923. The GNA officially declared the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. The Caliphate was constitutionally abolished several months later, on March 3, 1924.

This was the last era that Muslims were super powers, unlike now, where they are very weak and dependent on the West for security. In my opinion, the Ottoman Empire had both positive and negative effects on the Muslim (Arab) world. Under the Ottoman Empire the Arabs were in some way being colonized rather than being a part of the Ottomans. In the other hand, they were “stronger” then “now”, and also they were inventors and developers whereas now they are definitely only consumers.

Early Turkey:

When Ataturk became the first president of Turkey, one of the most influential decisions that he made that had a major effect on Turkey, was the separation of religion and the state. Trying to emulate the Europeans after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Ataturk had reforms that were designed to modernize the new Republic of Turkey into a democratic and secular nation-state. They were political, legal, cultural, social and economic reforms. The most influential to Islam in Turkey in my opinion were a) Abolition of the office of Caliphate held by the Ottoman Caliphate. b) The inclusion of the principle of laïcité in the constitution and The Islamic courts and Islamic canon law gave way to a secular law structure based on the Swiss Civil Code. These reforms have taken away the Islamic identity of the Turks and the Arabic culture.

Modern Turkey:

Nowadays, if you go to Turkey you can see the Islamic heritage everywhere but the culture can be varied in different cities. For example, Istanbul, despite being a historical place this city has various kinds of people. Some are religious people especially the ones who live outside the city, when I say religious it doesn’t mean Islamic extremists or fanatics but people who are committed to the rituals of Islam. Whereas others are very westernized and if you can see them it is highly unlikely to think that they come from an Islamic background.

Since Abdulla Gul became president of Turkey in 2007, Turkey has been involved or had a say on things that are happening in the Middle East. In my opinion, it some way it seems that Turkey is trying to get their Islamic identity back. The first time since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of the republic, the current power in Turkey is being led by a person who is an Islamist politician. Also, he criticized the political system that was designed by Ataturk. Hopefully one day the Turks will come to their senses and remove the process of secular Westernization and realize that this is in their best interest in the long run.

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