How the Turks Saved Turkey
The Turks First known from Chinese accounts First known use of “Turk” in 6th century Arrived in Anatolia late 11th century Altaic language related to Mongolian Not related to European languages Not related to Arabic Agglutinative language: forms words by repeated addition of endings (compare English “friendliness”)
The Turkish Language Bulmak = find Bulunmak = to be found Bulunduk = having been found Bulundugunuz = your having been found Yer = place Bulundugunuz yer = The your-having-been-found place = You are here
Ottoman Empire 1400
Ottoman Empire 1460
Aya Sofia, Istanbul
Ottoman Empire 1520
Ottoman Empire 1566
Ottoman Empire 1683
Ottoman Empire 1690
An Ottoman Ottoman
Ottoman Empire 1700
Ottoman Empire 1750
Ottoman Empire 1830
Ottoman Empire 1880
Ottoman Empire 1913
The Young Turks Mehmed Talat Pasha – prime minister İsmail Enver Pasha – minister of war Ahmed Djemal Pasha – minister of navy Effectively ruled Empire during First World War Allied with Germany during World War I Fled Empire after the war
Ottoman Empire 1918
Turkish History in One Picture
Dardanelles at Canakkale
Gallipoli Peninsula
Carving Up Turkey
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 1881-1938
Megali Idea
Post-Ottoman Changes Sultan deposed 1922 Caliphate and Sharia abolished 1924 Language Reforms 1930’s Adoption of modified Roman Alphabet Purge of Arabic and Persian words Islam no longer official religion Women gain vote and right to hold office 1934
Pluses and Minuses Upside Downside Turkey deliberately aligns with the West Long-overdue reforms enacted Dramatic increase in literacy Downside Language reforms made Ottoman literature inaccessible Distorted historical model sometimes used to justify reforms
21st Century Europe