Asbarez | November 13, 2009

Excerpt from the New York Times (November 16, 2009):

Henry Morgenthau Sr., one of 12 children born into a Jewish family in southern Bavaria, came to New York in 1866. He was appointed to his ambassadorship in 1913, and is today credited with drawing needed attention to the Armenian genocide.

A telegram written in 1915, by which he informed the secretary of state that ‘a campaign of race extermination is in progress,’ is prominently displayed in the exhibition.

A new exhibit, “The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service,” opens Monday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City, New York. It highlights the lives of three Morgenthaus: Robert, Manhattan District Attorney since 1975; his father, Henry Morgenthau Jr., who was secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and his grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., who was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The exhibit features objects and historical documents.

Read the New York Times article,  Looking Back at the Morgenthau Legacy.

11:00  11/11 – marks – Armistice Day for WW1 aka Remembrance Day.

But what is Remembrance Day?

Researching my favourite website Wikipedia, this is what I found:

Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on November 11 and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning — the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the cease fire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire.

The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war. An exception is Italy, where the end of the war is commemorated on 4 November, the day of the Armistice of Villa Giusti. Called Armistice Day in many countries, it was known as National Day in Poland (also a public holiday) called Polish Independence Day. After World War II, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day remains an official holiday in France. It is also an official holiday in Belgium, known also as the Day of Peace in the Flanders Fields.

Personally I love that we have set aside one day in a year to take the time out to remember those who have fought and died for our liberty.   Of course there are always two sides to every story and what we celebrate may not be someone else’s reason to celebrate.   However, it is wise to remember that wars have been fought for millenia and that so long as mankind roams the earth there will always be wars.   The ultimate ideal would be to have ‘Peace on Earth’, and yet by nature we are a waring tribe, so what is the chance.

The most common causes of war and fighting are Religion and Politics, followed closely by acquisition of natural resources, food and land.   So long as we are all independent of thought and hold an opinion, there will be wars!

However, should we humans one day master the divine skill of acceptance, perhaps then we may find peace.

one of my favourite quotes from a famous gentleman:

“You become what you think about”. Earl Nightingale

let’s raise the flag for future generations and think about becoming ‘peaceful’

One of my favourite videos and the story of  a man to be admired as he struggles to promote peaceoneday

“We must make every effort for the promotion of peace and inner values. I fully support [Peace One Day].” His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Laureate

Imagine if we all did the same thing!

What will you do?

This post is part 15 of 17 of my trip to Istanbul. The series intends to give more than just a I-saw-this-and-did-that review. It aims to share the voice inside my head as I explore a world I’ve only read in books.

Gate of Salutation

The more I travel, the more I realize that the less explored sites often take my breath away more so than popular touristy sites that everyone says it’s a “must-do.” Maybe it’s because I have higher expectation for sites that everyone talks about and less expectations for sites that aren’t mentioned in every single guide book and travel blog.

When I come across something totally unexpected, it leaves an impression and makes me wonder why it doesn’t receive the same amount of publicity as other popular sites. Maybe the impressiveness of the sites becomes diminished once it’s a major tourist attraction. To me it’s no longer as authentic as something that’s hidden in a back alley. It becomes another form of western commercialism charging additional fees for this and that and higher fees for more experiences.

However, not all popular tourist destinations fail to live up to it’s hype. For example, everything I’ve ever read about the Forbidden City was nothing but praises of beauty and extravagance. Even with high expectations, it still blew me away. I had the same kind of expectation for the Topkapi Palace but it wasn’t what I had hoped for. Maybe my expectations were too high.

It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the former primary residence for the Ottoman Sultans before they moved to the more westernized Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosporus River. The Topkapi Palace became museum for it’s fine example of Ottoman architecture and it’s collection of porcelains, weapons, armors, calligraphic manuscripts and it’s most prized treasure and jewelry.

JC and I bought our entrance tickets and proceeded through the Imperial Gate. It was covered in marble and written with gilded inscriptions over a high arch. The gate led to the first courtyard followed by the Gate of Salutation, which was also richly inscribed with calligraphy.

Imperial Council

The first building that instantly caught my eye was the Imperial Council. You can’t miss it with it’s naturally illuminating gilded exterior. The porch and floor was made entirely of marble. The white and green wooden ceiling was decorated in gold.  The exterior walls and entrance was plastered in gilded gold. No other building in the Topkapi Palace that I had seen matched up to the lavishness of this one.

JC and I wandered in and out of the courtyards just to get a feel of the palace. It was grand in size but it didn’t match up to my expectations. Like any other major tourist attractions, swarms of tour groups and visitors filled up the palace as the day progressed. Lines were getting excessively long and visitors were getting impatient.

The Imperial Treasury was one of the main sites of the palace. The line to enter snaked around and around and it moved at a snail’s pace. When we finally got in the air was humid and musky. Swarms of people crowded around the glass windows to get a glimpse of the glistening jewels. I’m not a big fan of things that sparkle but curiousity made me wonder what everyone was drooling over.

View From Topkapi Palace

The one thing that did make me go ga-ga was the view from the balcony. Of course, the photo doesn’t do it justice but I had an amazing front row seat since every one was too busy being enchanged my jewels. I got to enjoyed another one of Mother Nature’s masterpiece.

We must realise that Islam is not our enemy.  Muslims are not evil people.  It is this virulent and violent form of Islam started by al Wahhab in the Nejd and spread like a plague across the globe by the Saudis in their oil funded madrassahs that are the enemy.  The House of Saud must fall.  Until it does, we will have these criminals amongst us and their numbers will continue to grow.

Osama bin Laden is but the latest thug to attempt to infect Islam with this disease through terror and violence.  Study the history of Islam.  Specifically, study the history of the Arabian Peninsula.  Study the history of the British Raj of the late 1800s.  Even the Ottomans fought the Wahhabis in the Nejd near the end of their Empire.  There is precedent in history for the events of today.  The Ottomans warred on the Nejd from Egypt in the 1700s and 1800s.  Their fight was against these same followers of the doctrines of the apostate al Wahhab and the ancestors of the current Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Wahhabism must die.  The sooner the better for all of the world– Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

A picture of the culprits.  The criminals of the House of Saud and proliferates of the disease contracted from their forefathers.

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Al-Wahhab ibn Sulaiman ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rashid Al-Tamimi^[1] (1703–1792) (Arabic: محمد بن عبد الوهاب التميمي‎) was an Islamic scholar born in Najd, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Despite never specifically calling for a separate school of Islamic thought, it is from ibn Abd-al Wahhab that the term Wahhabism derives.

He believed that those who practice innovation in Islam such as “taking the graves as a place of worship” which is practiced in Sufism and Shia Islam, are Kufr.^{[2][3][4][citation needed]}

For this reason, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab destroyed many graves and was also considering destroying the grave of the Prophet Muhammad, out of fear that it might be worshiped.^[2][5]

This was due to the sayings of the prophet. Who said before his death, while on his death bed.

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets”.^[6]

Alliance with the House of Saud

Upon his expulsion from ‘Uyayna, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was invited to settle in neighboring Dir’iyya by its ruler Muhammad ibn Saud in 1740 (1157 AH). Two of Ibn Saud’s brothers had been students of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in Uyayna, and are said to have played a role in convincing Ibn Saud to take him in. Ibn Saud’s wife is also reported to have been a convert to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s cause. Upon arriving in Diriyya, a pact was made between Ibn Saud and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, by which Ibn Saud pledged to implement Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings and enforce them on neighboring towns. Beginning in the last years of the 18th century Ibn Saud and his heirs would spend the next 140 years mounting various military campaigns to seize control of Arabia and its outlying regions, finally taking control of the whole of modern day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1922. This provided the movement with a state. Vast wealth from oil discovered in the following decades, coupled with Saudi control of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have since provided a base and funding for Salafi missionary activity.

Legacy

Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab considered his movement an effort to purify Islam by returning Muslims to what he believed were the original principles of Islam, as typified by the Salaf and rejecting what he regarded as corruptions introduced by Bid’ah and Shirk.

Although all Muslims pray to one God, ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab was keen on emphasizing that no intercession with God was possible without His permission, which He only grants to whom He wills and only to benefit those whom He wills, certainly not the ones who invoke anything or anyone except Him, as these would never be forgiven,^[31]. Specific practices, such as celebrating the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were also deemed as innovations. He is hence considered by his followers to be a great revivalist of Islam, and by his opponents as an innovator and heretic. In either case, ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s impact on Islam has been considerable and significant.

Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab also revived interest in the works of the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya.

The followers of this revival (see Salafism) are often called Wahhabis, though most reject the usage of this term on the grounds that ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings were the teachings of The Holy Prophet Muhammad(Peace Be Up on Him), not his own. Thus, most generally refer to themselves as Salafis, while during his lifetime they often referred to themselves muwahhidin (“monotheists”).

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s descendents are known today as “Al al-Shaykh” (“House of the Shaykh”). The family of Al al-Shaykh has included several religious scholars, including the former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad ibn Ibrahm Al al-Shaykh, who issued the fatwa calling for the abdication of King Saud in 1964. Both the current Saudi minister of justice and the current grand mufti of Saudi Arabia are also descendents of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

Commentary

Perceptions of ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab are varied. To many Muslims of the Salafi persuasion, ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab is a significant luminary in the proud tradition of Islamic scholarship. A great number of lay Sunni Muslims regard him as a pious scholar whose interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadith were nevertheless out of step with the mainstream of Islamic thought, and thus discredited.^[32] Some scholars regard him as a pious scholar who called people back to worship of Allah according to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Others, often Sufis, regard him as a one who stopped at nothing to gain power and manipulate others. Natana DeLong-Bas, meanwhile, has recently published a self-described “controversial” book that complicates the idea that ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab contributed to the “militant stance of contemporary jihadism.”^[33]

These are the madmen whom we empower through oil consumption.

Δεν λέμε, βέβαια, το παλεύει η Τουρκία. Το παλεύει με νύχια και με δόντια να ανοίξει το δρόμο για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, τώρα μάλιστα που πλησιάζει κι ο Δεκέμβριος και θα κριθεί η τύχη της. Ανοίγματα από δω, ανοίγματα από κει, διπλωματικές προσεγγίσεις με τη Συρία, την Αρμενία, τη Ρωσία, αλλά και τους Κούρδους, επιστολή στον κ. Παπανδρέου για βελτίωση των διμερών σχέσεων, συνάντηση του Τούρκου Υπουργού Ευρωπαϊκών Υποθέσεων Εγκεμέν Μπαΐς με τον Έλληνα πρωθυπουργό, ματαίωση της Ισραηλινής άσκησης στο Ικόνιο και ποιος ξέρει τι άλλο ακόμα θα επακολουθήσει.

Καλά όλα αυτά, καλά και άγια. Αυτή όμως την εμμονή του Τούρκου ΥΠΕΞ, Αχμέτ Νταβούτογλου, με την πάλαι ποτέ κραταιά Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, δεν μπορούμε να την καταλάβουμε. Γιατί η αλήθεια είναι ότι μας ζάλισε λίγο με τα περασμένα μεγαλεία που αναπολεί και με το πόσο καλά δούλευαν όλα όταν τα Βαλκάνια βρίσκονταν υπό την κυριαρχία των Οθωμανών.

«Πρότυπο συνεργασίας σε όλους τους τομείς υπήρξαν τα Βαλκάνια κατά την περίοδο της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας », ισχυρίστηκε ο κ. Νταβούτογλου σε πρόσφατη ομιλία του στο Σαράγιεβο, σε διεθνές συνέδριο με θέμα «Η οθωμανική κληρονομιά και οι μουσουλμανικές κοινότητες στα Βαλκάνια».

Δεν είναι αυτά που μάθαμε στα σχολεία – που οπωσδήποτε κάποιοι θα σπεύσουν πρόθυμα να κατηγορήσουν – αλλά πηγές από το ίδιο το οθωμανικό κράτος και ανεξάρτητους φορείς, που έρχονται να διαψεύσουν τα λεγόμενα του κ. Νταβούτογλου περί ισοπολιτείας, ισονομίας, ανεξιθρησκίας κ.λ.π. στην τόσο «ρόδινη και δημοκρατική» Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία. Το παιδομάζωμα, ο βίαιος εξισλαμισμός, η εξοντωτική φορολογία, η πιο σκληρή μορφή της οποίας υπήρξε ο κεφαλικός φόρος (το χαράτσι), το οποίο πλήρωναν οι «άπιστοι» για να μπορούν να έχουν το κεφάλι τους στους ώμους τους για ένα χρόνο και η κρεμάλα είναι μόνο μερικά από τα χαρακτηριστικά του πολυεθνικού εκείνου κράτους, του οποίου όλοι οι υπήκοοι έμοιαζαν να δουλεύουν για την Υψηλή Πύλη και για τους πασάδες, των οποίων τα θησαυροφυλάκια ξεχείλιζαν πάντα από τα πλούτη. Ο Τούρκος περιηγητής του 17ου αιώνα Εβλιγιά Τσελεμπή, στο χρονικό του καταγράφει βίαιους εξισλαμισμούς και παιδομάζωμα σε όλο τον Βαλκανικό χώρο. Ως εργαλείο εξισλαμισμού λειτούργησε και η κατάληψη των καλλιεργήσιμων εδαφών από Τούρκους, που οδήγησε τον χριστιανικό πληθυσμό σε “αγροτικό μαρασμό”, ενώ η αποστασία από το Ισλάμ τιμωρείτο με θάνατο.

Παρ’ όλα αυτά ο Τούρκος ΥΠΕΞ δεν είναι ο μόνος που ονειρεύεται παλιά ξινά σταφύλια. Τον περασμένο Απρίλιο, στο Κοσσυφοπέδιο έγινε μεγάλη γιορτή, που οργάνωσε το «Πολιτιστικό Κέντρο Μεχμέτ Πασά»,Τουρκικό Ίδρυμα χρηματοδοτούμενο από την Τουρκία, όπου πραγματοποιήθηκαν διάφορες εκδηλώσεις από τους Τουρκικής καταγωγής Κοσσοβάρους, ενώ μπάντα, που είχε έρθει από την Τουρκία, μεταξύ άλλων, έπαιξε και τον Ύμνο της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας.

Φανταστείτε πώς θα ήταν να αρχίσουμε κι εμείς να οραματιζόμαστε πάλι τη Μεγάλη Ιδέα και να ονειρευόμαστε την ανασύσταση της Βυζαντινής Αυτοκρατορίας και το δικέφαλο αητό! Τότε θα ήταν αυτό που λένε, ο καθένας ό,τι θυμάται χαίρεται!

«Επιθυμούμε μια νέα Βαλκανική, που θα θεμελιώνεται στις πολιτικές αξίες, στην οικονομική αλληλεξάρτηση, στη συνεργασία και στην πολιτιστική αρμονία. Όλα αυτά εξασφαλίζονταν στα οθωμανικά Βαλκάνια», τόνισε ο κ. Νταβούτογλου, θυμίζοντας μάλλον τον νεοοθωμανισμό του Τουργούτ Οζάλ το 1990 και συμπλήρωσε: «Εμείς θα αναβιώσουμε την εποχή αυτή. Τα οθωμανικά Βαλκάνια ήταν μια επιτυχημένη ιστορία και τώρα πρέπει να αναγεννηθούν. Θα κάνουμε τα Βαλκάνια, τον Καύκασο, τη Μέση Ανατολή, μαζί με την Τουρκία ,επίκεντρο της παγκόσμιας πολιτικής σκηνής. Αυτός είναι ο στόχος της εξωτερικής μας πολιτικής στο μέλλον και θα τον πετύχουμε».

Αυτό που μπορεί κανείς να παρατηρήσει μετά τα παραπάνω νομίζω είναι, ότι μπορεί η Τουρκία να έχει βάλει τα δυνατά της για να περάσει τις επικείμενες εξετάσεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, μπορεί να έχει κάνει κάποιες προόδους ως προς την εξάρθρωση του «βαθέως κράτους», έχει όμως πολύ μακρύ δρόμο μπροστά της για να ξεπεράσει τις εθνικιστικές, μεγαλοϊδεατικές φαντασιώσεις της και την ομφαλοσκοπική εξωτερική πολιτική της, η οποία είναι άλλωστε απαράλλαχτη εδώ και πολλούς αιώνες.

 Next in line for Nobel Peace Prize: Erdogan, Turkey’s PM 

            In December 18, 2004 I wrote “Turkey: A Regional Power in the Making “.  In February 4, 2009 I updated my article “A Regional Power out of hibernation in the Near East“.  Another update is required because Turkey seems to vigorously and quickly act everywhere.

Turkey forgot the Islamic world for over 60 years and relied on its military to impose a secular state and emulate the Western culture in alphabet and in dress codes. Ataturk wanted to shed the image of backward Ottoman Empire that lost an Empire extending from Hungry to Iraq to Arabic Peninsula, the Near East, Egypt and all Northern Africa.   The other Empire to the east was the Persian Safafid Dynasty that extended to Pakistan. The Safafid Empire was founded by another Turkish leader and opted to adopt the Chiaa Moslem sect as the religion of his Empire.

Turkey is part of NATO (this year is its turn to lead the NATO forces in Afghanistan) thanks to the cold war against the defunct neighbor of Soviet Union: Turkey was the main effective ally to the US in the region during the cold war. Turkey was denied full membership in the European Union because the same Soviet Union disintegrated into “independent States” recognized by the UN; France and Germany offered a rational for their refusal on ground of Turkey not satisfying the basic social and political requirement of a homogenous member.  For 60 years Turkey had turned its back to the Arab problems, and allied to the State of Israel and the Shah of Iran.

Things are changing fast after the horrors of Gaza and the tearing down of the mask of the Zionist ideology of terror, expansion, and apartheid.  Turkey was playing the fair mediator between Syria and Israel in order for the return of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Turkey was mediating between Israel and the Palestinians to render the life of the Palestinians under occupation more bearable during the peace negotiations for a separate Palestinian State.  Israel Olmert PM lied to the Turkish PM Erdogan before the barbaric re-incursion into Gaza.

Erdogan, Turkey’s PM is undeniably the most powerful leader criticizing the Zionist State for its genocide in Gaza. He canceled a joint military maneuver with the US and Israel. The US has nobody else to conduct military maneuvers but Israel in this region; the latest naval one is to last two weeks with objective to save Israel of mass missile attack!

Turkey, under Erdogan, is currently more powerful than the whole of Europe in the Near East for establishing peace, stability and equitable political resolutions.  Turkey is a self sufficient independent Nation and has ruled the whole Middle East for four centuries. Turkey has awakened from a long hibernation and decided to be a major regional power broker.   

Turkey is demanding and acting as the main power broker in the Near East because it has interest in the stability of its south eastern borders with Syria, Iran, and Iraq.  So far, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq were peons for the larger policies of the US, Europe, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.  Turkey’s current policies beg to differ: “no more war zones at my borders and in my back yards”.  The US and Israel must have understood the message clearly and loudly. The so-called “moderate” Arab States of Egypt and Saudi Arabia are cowering down and are taken by surprise to the emergence of the new revitalized Turkey siding with the underdogs.

We are not hearing anymore about the Turkish war on the Kurdish self-autonomous movement.  I wholeheartedly wish that negotiations are secretly and seriously underway with the Kurdish Workers’ Party for a peaceful resolution.  The Kurdish problem was used by the USA and Israel to blackmail Turkey.  I have a feeling that the Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran appreciate the new directions of Erdogan’s government and would find in Erdogan a viable interlocutor and would cooperate with Turkey to lighten up this heavy burden of a useless and fruitless civil war. The new policy in Turkey is to open peaceful negotiations with the opposition Kurds; around 200 Kurdish leaders in the resistance movement have turned themselves in and all indicates that a resolution is palpable.

Turkey will be asked to exercise its beneficial influence in restoring peace, stability and economic prosperity in the region.  It will inevitably join the European Union with the unavoidable important changes that Turkey will have to accept and undergo in matters of democracy, liberty, human rights, social and economical constraints.

This transformation of a powerful neighbor will transcend into a drastic transformation of the societies surrounding Turkey. The benefits are already materializing in closer ties with Syria, pressures on Israel to agree on a Palestinian State, and greater normalization with Iran.  Turkey is obviously the main power that can provide autonomy to the Kurdish nationalism spreading among Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Turkey is the main power that can efficiently check US omnipotence in the Middle East and any resurgence of Russia militarism. Turkey prevented Bush Junior to invade Iraq through its territory; the US air base in Interlink was prohibited to launch air raids on Iraq.  I have great hope in this new power amongst us, especially that the current Turkish government has proven to be far sighted and confident in its power and role in this region.

For a couple of years after Europe shut off the door for Turkey entering the Union Turkey felt the need to crawl in a cave and hibernate; Turkey shook off its lethargic attitude and is now in the driving seat and operating a strategy that befits its power in the Middle East.  It has surmounted tough obstacles in economic difficulties, human rights issues that are frequently reemerging, and demonstrations that are occasionally broken by brute force. Turkey is no longer allowed to relax.  Turkey is quickly learning that it has to keep pace with the culture of Europe and to fight harder to catch up with lost time. Its dialogue with Syria has brought fruits: no visas are needed to cross joint borders, seasonal water resource shortages are frequently revised, and the western world had come to term that it can no longer circumvent Syria in this volatile region with Turkey’s backing.

Europe must be appreciating the decision of Turkey to play a major role in the Near East but the US is very wary because it refuses to share pre-eminence in the Middle East.  Turkey active diplomacy and clear policies should weight heavier in the decision process for joining the European Union.  The frustrations of Turkey with the EU must have given it a clear hint of what its policies should be based on and where its focus should be directed to.

            Turkey is the new pivotal power in the Middle East in the coming decades.  It is the cornerstone for new emerging Northern Middle East Block with Syria, Iraq, and Iran.  This strategic block in formation is inevitable after the US troops leave Iraq and would constitute the best guarantee for this volatile region to peace and security.

            Erdogan should have received the Nobel Award for Peace instead of Barak Obama who has no active records to show for earning this prize (Read my post “What that! Nobel Prize for Passivity?”  Erdogan has already executed peace treaties with his archenemies: Syria, Armenia, the Kurds, soon with Cyprus, and has definitely sided with the Palestinians against apartheid Israel.  Normally, Erdogan is in line for the peace prize. Judging from the trend, the cynical Nobel Committee never feels comfortable awarding Peace Prizes to Middle Eastern leaders unless it is shared with the devils such as Began and Peres. Erdogan got my highest prize and we all feel much more optimist in our future.

In the Ottoman Empire, bathing was not just a matter of personal care – it was an opportunity for socialising, display and gossip – much like promenading in a fashionable park on a pleasant afternoon.

When I wanted my protagonist to have a bit of girl-time with her closest friend, Derry, it seemed the obvious location.  Of course, it also makes for a brilliant excuse to visit one for myself!  I’d like to go to Istanbul itself next year, but in the meantime I’ve found out that there are a couple of ‘Turkish baths’ in nearby and there are various others across the UK.  I think I’ll be booking one as a birthday treat!

The Turkish bath became popular in Britain in the 17th century where they were often combined with coffee houses.  These bagnios, as they were known, were a common sight on London streets and the makers of Channel 4’s City of Vice agree – you’ll recognise them from the first episode.  However, by the mid-18th century the word bagnio had rather different associations – it was a place to meet prostitutes and rent out a room for a few hours with no awkward questions asked!  Ooh er!

However, this didn’t put off those oppressed Victorians – or perhaps it attracted them – for the Turkish bath enjoyed a renaissance in 19th century Britain and it is this English take on the hammam that can be still be visited today across the country.

But let’s get back to the original hammam…

As an everyday part of Ottoman life, the hammam had (and still has) a whole ritual surrounding it complete with the paraphernalia and terminology.

Your first port of call is a small cubicle where you undress, don a pestemal (a brightly coloured, often checked, fabric wrap) and slip on a pair of wooden clogs, or takunyalar.  These clogs were a great opportunity for showing off your wealth with intricate carving and gold or mother of pearl inlay.  They are clearly visible in the images above and below.

The bath proper begins in a hot, humid room, the hararet, where you relax on a heated marble platform (called the gobek tasi), working up the maximum sweat with minimum effort!  Once your attendant has deemed you sweaty enough, you’re led to basin to be scrubbed and washed to within an inch of your life.

Next you might have your hair washed (perhaps with some divine shampoo from your richly decorated tarak kutusu, or ‘comb box’) or request a Turkish massage.  I’m feeling quite envious at this point!  Mmm … massage …

But enough of that – onward to the cold room, or sogukluk.  Here you have a chance to cool down, drink tea and generally relax … Sounds like just the time for checking out who else is bathing today, how richly embroidered their pestemal is and what they’re chatting about.

And when you’re ready, it’s time to get dressed and return to the real world refreshed and glowing with cleanliness.  Sounds lovely!

Finally, I’d like to leave you with the inspiration for this post today – my usual check of BBC news gave me the unexpected but most welcome pleasure of seeing a traditional hammam still in operation*.  Even more impressive – this particular bath has been in operation since it was first opened in 1741.  The light streaming through tiny windows in the domed roof is typical of hammam architecture and is simply beautiful.

Fingers crossed, I’ll one day get to visit a hammam for myself, but if you’ve been, I’d love to hear about your experience!

* Warning – this video contains graphic scenes of a semi-naked middle-aged reporter guy.

For anyone interested in rugs, tea and Ottoman history (I mean, who isn’t?!?), I highly recommend this excellent website: http://tea-and-carpets.blogspot.com/.

On the site, expect mind-blowingly detailed articles like, “Ottoman Court Prayer Carpets: The Mystery Of The Ballard Rug,” “The Floral Medallion Revolution and Ottoman Court Carpets,” and “Konya, The Seljuks, And The First Great Anatolian Carpets.”

“A: You can never go too far, and B: If I’m gonna get busted, it is *not* gonna be by a guy like *that*.”

This post is part 13 of 17 of my trip to Istanbul. The series intends to give more than just a I-saw-this-and-did-that review. It aims to share the voice inside my head as I explore a world I’ve only read in books.

The sixth day in Istanbul was our lazy Saturday. Technically, it was a Wednesday but we’d been running around the city like lab rats since we landed. It felt like a Saturday. Our days usually started at 7:30AM. We’d snooze for an hour, get dressed and have breakfast on the hotel terrace. By the time we left the Hali Hotel, it was around 10AM and we’d explored the city non-stop until 11PM. Once we got back to the hotel we’d shower and take a face-dive into the pillow. But this morning we decided to take it easy.

We slept in and had brunch in what use to be the home of Hakki Pasha.

Hakkı Pasha, who was the governor of Yemen in the last era of Ottoman Period, between the years 1846 – 1914, lived in this house. He constructed the building in the authentic architectural form together with the most famous Turkish architects of the period. And he lived here until 1911 with his family. This place of Hakkı Pasha has an important place in the history. His grandchildren restored this historical building for Hakkı Pasha’s memory. And now, they are operating this place, which has a magnificent atmosphere, under the title CozyPub Restaurant. -  CozyPub & Restaurant

After brunch it was another day of trekking. We took the funicular at Kabatas Station to Taksim Square. Taksim is known as the new Istanbul. The most important monument is the Independence Monument. It commemorates Kemal Ataturk, the father day of modern day Istanbul. The monument displays his two roles – one as the military commander-in-chief and the other as a statesman.

Across this monument is the Ataturk Cultural Center, which use to be known as the Istanbul Cultural Palace. During the early years of the Republic, it use to be an opera house but it was damaged during a fire in 1970. After it was renovated they renamed it the Ataturk Cultural Center. Concerts, operas, exhibitions and premiers are held here.

Nearby the monument is Istiklal Caddessi, or Istiklal Street. It extends all the way to the Galata Tower. This road is filled with retail shops, hotels, restaurants, cafes, a few movie theaters and many historic sites. The walk through Taksim didn’t take too long. JC and I stopped by a few book stores and paid a visit to the St. Anthony of Padua Church. It is the largest Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul. The original church was built by the Italian community. The current church was rebuilt in Venetian Neo-Gothic style by the Istanbulite Levantino Italian and architect Giulio Mongeri.

The walk down Istiklal Caddessi takes about an hour and a half. JC and I sauntered about but we didn’t have much of an urge to go into the shops that lined the cosmopolitan pavilion. We walked all the way down to The Galata Tower and by the time we arrived, the sun was just about to set. We sat down in front of the tower and caught an amazing street performance.

Click here to watch the video!

Kyrenia Castle in Northern Cyprus stands at the entrance to the harbor at Kyrenia North Cyprus. guarding this important and strategic North Cyprus port since the 1500s. There has been a settlement at Kyrenia since the 10th century BC, but the first major castle at Kyrenia was constructed by the Romans, and subsequently fortified by the Byzantines.  Excavations carried out show that the original castle was fortified by the Byzantines in the 7th century A.D. to protect against Arab raids.King Richard the Lionheart’s rule was not welcomed in Cyprus, so he sold the island to the Knights Templar, who in turn sold it to King-Consort Guy de Lusignan. Thus, Cyprus was under frankish rule for almost 300 years (1192-1489).The Byzantine structure of four towers linked by walls was strengthened and enlarged by the Lusignan family. The current appearance of Kyrenia Castle dates from when the Venetians were “given” the island of Cyprus in 1489.

As soon as the Venetians acquired Cyprus, they were paranoid about losing it to the rapidly expanding Ottoman Empire. With the mainland only miles away, and the Ottomans gaining strength every year, the Venetians set about fortifying Cyprus. Kyrenia Castle’s walls were greatly enlarged and made thicker to withstand possible artillery attacks, and to resist any siege. The Venetians replaced the simple drawbridge entrance with an elaborate protected gatehouse as seen today, and retained the Byzantine 12th century church of St George the Castle safely within the walls.

Kyrenia Castle also houses the Shipwreck Museum home to one of the most remarkable marine archaeological finds in the world. In 300BC, a trading vessel, laden with millstones and amphorae (large jars) of wine from Kos and Rhodes set sail for Cyprus. The ship was caught in a storm, and was wrecked outside Kyrenia harbour. The remains of the ship sat on the sea bed covered in sand for 2300 years until 1965, when the remains of what was then the oldest recovered ship in the world began to be recovered. The 47ft long hull, made of Aleppo pine covered in lead, is preserved in a specially controlled environment in the Museum, along with wine jars, some utensils used by the crew, and 9000 almonds, which were part of the crew’s rations.

The life and times of Vlad “Dracula” Tepes, the Impaler, Turk-destroyer extraordinaire.

Playlist

Tepes 1
Alleee 1
Dublxero * Halloween Hassle
Tepes 2
Sid Bass * The House is Haunted
Pimp Daddy Supreme * Snap Yo Specials
Tepes 3
Mozart * Requiem-Lacrimosa
Christine Pilzer * Dracula
Tepes 4
Carl Orff * O Fortuna!
Bug * Pump up the Creepers
Tepes 5
Tomita * Uranus from The Planets
Henry Burr * Peerless Quartet
Tepes 6
Bauhaus * St Vitus Dance
Tepes 7
Dan Russo and his Oriole Orchestra * T’ain’t No Sin
Tepes 8
Saint-Saens * Fossils from Carnival of the Animals
Tepes 9
Martin Denny * Girlfriend of the whirling Dervish
Tepes 10
Alleee2

Download

THE CLOUDS OF ÇANAKKALE

Sohbet given by Sheykh Abdul Kerim al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi

Friday 9 Ramazan, 1428 / Septermber 21, 2007
Osmanli Naks-i’bendi Hakkani Dergah, Siddiki Center, New York.

[After the Juma prayer someone asked Sheykh Efendi about the Canakkale
War of 1915 saying, "Many are now saying that the clouds that appeared
in Canakkale taking in British soldiers and disappearing, it's just a
story. Is it true?"]

Sheykh Efendi: Auzu billahi min ash-sheytanir rajim.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim.
Medet Ya Seyyidi Sultanul Awliya, Medet.

Millions today are making jokes about how the cloud appeared in
Canakkale and took one group of British and just disappeared and still
their bodies are not known anywhere. Now they are making stories. But
people from that time believed because they saw and they witnessed.
After them their children, they are also not believing because it’s
something extraordinary. It’s showing (to the non-Muslim forces that
came against the Ottoman Empire) that the God that you are worshipping
is helping these people and it’s not helping you. So it’s not such a
good position that you want to be in, right? How are you going to say,
“The side that we were fighting against, they were right and the Lord
helped them by sending clouds and everyone disappeared in it.” It
wasn’t just ten people in it.

Not only that but so many other unusual things happened there. Who was
in Canakkale? Our Grandsheykh (Abdullah Daghestani QS). So is it so
hard for us to understand who is making all these things? Heh, there
was a General who didn’t like the Grandsheykh. And a bomb flew and
fell into the area where the Grandsheykh and everyone were in. Almost
everybody died or became wounded. Where Gransheykh was, where it fell,
it just became a big hole and Grandsheykh was sitting and praying
there. The General was shocked and he came down to the Grandsheykh. He
kissed his hand and said, “I didn’t believe in God. I didn’t believe
in anything but I believe you from now on because I have seen with my
eyes what had happened.” He said, “You are a different individual from
everything else.” And that General started following the Grandsheykh.

Not only Grandsheykh but so many other sheykhs and saints entered into
that war. 250,000 people died. It’s not 250. Two hundred and fifty
thousand people died there in that short time. Only from the Turks.
Almost 300,000 died from the other side. Over 300,000 people. You are
talking about more than half a million people dying in those waters
and in those lands there. Everywhere you are stepping on there are
bodies underneath it.

I spent three nights there and early in the morning when I was calling
the Azan… I was calling the Azan very strongly early in the morning,
(there was one tomb, that of Suleyman Pasha, he did great things there
too) near his tomb and I was going there for prayer and you can see in
far distance the lights of the Greek islands there, right on the
border. People came from the other side. In the morning when I was
calling the Azan right before dawn, things were setting down and I was
seeing all these beautiful rains of light coming down. Like rain drops
light was coming down and with that different smells were coming. And
there was a voice speaking to me saying that all those drops are
representing all those soldiers, and everyone has a different smell.
So everywhere I was walking I was seeing different lights. I was
walking, passing through their tomb sites and you would think that
there are so many tombs there but it’s not. In the mountains and
everywhere you see that light connection coming from the Paradise to
there, from their tombs going up.

That’s why people who don’t have strong spirituality cannot live
around there. It’s pretty heavy for them. People who have high
spirituality want to live there all the time but they don’t leave them
too because you discover so many secrets there. It opens up. Unless
you are keeping the secrets, then they keep you there for some time.
Otherwise (they don’t). You can see that all those areas are not
packed up with things. Everywhere is almost empty. In the villages,
you see the people, you look at their faces, no arguments, just peace
coming from their faces and they are always walking, going back and
forth but no talking. No sound. It’s like a dead valley. No sound.
It’s like a different world that you are living in. Even just an
ordinary person can feel that right away and understands that it’s
completely different here now.

Huh, all those soldiers, British, ANZAC, all those are very happy to
be buried there. They are saying, “Mistakenly we have fallen into
Paradise.” (Sheykh Efendi smiles). Everything smells different. The
flowers smell different there, the mountain flowers, they all have
different smells and different colors. You can see that heavenly look
on everything there. All the stones they put there are symbolic. They
are not underneath there. They just carried so many of them and they
buried them in mass graves and they put those stones there. But there
are special places where special incidents happened. Those areas are
completely different. You see how it is there. But you can see it on
the stones. Every stone that you pass, the age that all died were 19,
20, 21.

Did you see the trench? The war trench behind which they were hiding?
You didn’t go there?

`X’: No, I didn’t.

Then you didn’t see anything what the soldiers the built. Do you know
how close they came to each other? From here to there where `Y’ is
sitting [approx. 10 meters]. The world has never seen a war like that
before. Never. No way that it can get that close. You have trenches
here and you have trenches there [Sheykh Efendi pointing to the two
opposite walls of the dergah and the distance between them is about 30
ft.]. That’s how close they got. Everything was so close there. The
fear and the smell of death and the smell of the love of Paradise that
kept those people keep on coming and going. People without faith
cannot stand there. The other ones had no choice because they were
dumped there with ships. So they had no place to go now. So many were
brought from the Subcontinent countries. They were Muslims. Afghanis
and [today's] Pakistanis. So many were put in ships and brought there
[by the British] to fight the Khalifah’s soldiers. Khalifah’s
soldiers! They didn’t know. They tried to give up but they [the
British] said, “You cannot go anywhere. We will shoot you down into
the water.” So they were fighting.

People are having everything easy now, everybody speaks on everything
and Islam became a game to everybody. A game. Nothing but a game. Not
accepting anything. People gave lives! Not life. Lives! One house
giving three, four sons to die in that war. Can you imagine? Four
sons, five sons died in that war. Three sons died and the husband
died. I met a lady. Looking at her face is like looking at a heavenly
person, as if heaven appeared through her face. It is not sad and it
is not khek khek khek. It is a beauty that is appearing. So beautiful
and calm. She was talking, she was praying and she was saying to me
what happened. The husband died and three sons died. And she was
saying, “Alhamdulillah. I hope I didn’t make a mistake. But I have no
regret. If I had ten sons then I will give again. But I am looking at
the situation of this country now and I am very sad. I think those
ones will be sad too.” Looking at her face, (I saw) Paradise coming
out from her face. And she said that she didn’t cry. She cried from
the pain but she didn’t cry for anything and she was very happy with
what Allah did. Then she was living all these years after that by
herself. She had another daughter and she died too after some time.
And she is still living. Allahu Akbar! People going through all that
pain, do you think it’s easy? Think on it. Just to think on it. So
many people I say these to, they say `Eh.’ I say, “Compare, just
compare with yourself and look what happens.” No comparison.
Impossible to compare. They were believing. That’s all. They were
believing in what they were doing. They were sincere with what they
were doing.

I met another lady. She fixed the whole village with her father’s
death money that was coming. The government was not taking care of the
tombs of the people, okay? And he was one of the persons who died in
Canakkale and it’s near the village there. So they brought him to the
village and they put him there and at that time the government put
money out saying they have to take care of those areas. They did it.
Then [later] everything was falling down. So she was showing me the
tomb site that she fixed and she was saying to me, “He fixed it
himself.” I said, “How it happened?” She goes, “Everything was falling
down and the little money that they were giving me from the government
for my father’s death, I saved little for me for whatever was
necessary for me to live on, and the rest to this village. He is in
the grave and with his money we are still living. He is in the grave.
With his money we are still living. The village is still living with
the money that is coming because of him. And they are fixing his tomb
with his money.” Allah, Allah. Unusual things are happening around
there.

Astaghfirullah al-Azim wa atubu ilaih.

El-Fatiha.

Ottoman soldiers praying before battle

A most appropriate read for my R.I.P. IV  Challenge and a great one for my and Fall Into Reading 2009 challenge.

Author :  Elizabeth Kostova

Date of First Publication :  June, 2005 (Hardcover)

Publisher of 1st Edition :  Little, Brown and Company

This Edition’s Publication Date :  January 2006 (Paperback)

This Edition’s Publisher : Back Bay Books

ISBN:  0-316-05788-6

No. of pages : 820  (Paperback)

The Story :

A young American girl stumbles upon an unusual book in her father’s library.  Its pages are empty except for a woodcut of a menacing dragon with the title, Drakulya, on it.  Along with it is a stash of old letters written by a her father’s favorite professor, Bartholomew Rossi, who mysteriously disappeared at the time when her father was still his student.

Her discovery reveals her family’s dark and dangerous quest for the continued existence of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula.  Slowly , drawn by her father’s accounts, she joins her family’s adventure of pursuing the undead through old letters and ancient texts, from libraries , aged monasteries and closed countries of Eastern Europe.

The Review :

You’ve got to be “in love at first read” with Elizabeth Kostova’s lush, vivid, elegant prose.  Her attention to detail is a constant that keeps the ambience of the book flowing, cloaking the reader with gothic creepiness that blends surprisingly well with romantic elements,  all throughout its eight hundred and so pages.  (By romantic elements I mean the sumptuous descriptions which enamor a reader to places, culture, people, etc. )  To read Kostova’s work is  to experience a story so intimately — you “see” the colorful pageantry of Byzantine culture, “taste”  delectable Turkish food, “smell” the smell of the undead, “feel” the anguish of the tortured.

If she fails to capture your interest in her first one or two hundred pages, chances are you simply cannot love this.  It’s one of those books that will either mesmerize you with its sensual vividness and alluring writing or because of these very qualities, tire you with its ponderous pace and lengthy minutiae.

For me, however, it is exactly Kostova’s way with language and her meticulous manner that are the charms of this novel.  It makes me wish I could absorb Kostova’s prose into my very pores in the hopes I would be able to write as eloquently and as gorgeously as she can.  Aside from being able to string words  so marvelously, she can switch the narrative perspective between a number of characters so effortlessly that the reader is hardly left wondering who is telling the story at certain points.

As a gothic novel, The Historian is superb.  It’s got all those dark elements, creepy atmosphere, but tempered so that it just falls short of being a horror novel.  The story moves like a slow crescendo,  building up bit by bit to a startling peak that gently tapers out toward the end. With all that, the reader is treated also to a well-researched history of Dracula, which makes reading all the more interesting.

In A Nutshell :

A horror novel, The Historian is not.  It may raise a few hairs, make your spine tingle, give you little shivers but it stops short of being truly terrifying.  It wasn’t written to be really such.  Yes, a chiller; but one laden with a lot more history and mystery than visceral terror.

This is a thick, page-laden novel .  But length becomes no object when you have totally immersed yourself in it.

Those who take to the novel quite early are more likely to appreciate this gem.  On the whole, it is worth the time.  To echo  a fellow blogger, KyusiReader, The Historian is indeed a very, very satisfying read.

My Mark :  Excellent

]]> http://apairofpantiesandboxers.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/asitate-restaurant/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:00:19 +0000 Monica http://apairofpantiesandboxers.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/asitate-restaurant/

This post is part 10 of 17 of my trip to Istanbul. The series intends to give more than just a I-saw-this-and-did-that review. It aims to share the voice inside my head as I explore a world I’ve only read in books.

Asitane Restaurant

After hours of self-induced neck cramps at the Chora Church, I was ready to feast. Behind the small Byzantine church is the Asitane Restaurant, which means Head Gate in Farsi. The restaurant is opened from 11:30AM-midnight. It’s the perfect place to have lunch after a cultural visit to the Chora Church.

The Asitane Restaurant is unique from all the other restaurants I’ve tried in Istanbul.  Its mission is to rediscover and recreate the lost recipes of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman reign lasted for 700 years but very few recipes have survived. They had a strong tradition that demanded cooks to keep their recipes  and cooking techniques a secret.

“The large and airy Asitane Restaurant serves imperial Ottoman cuisine, incorporating Central Asian, Anatolian, Middle Eastern and Balkan flavours, resulting from the intensive research undertaken at three palace kitchens (Dolmabahce, Topkapi and Edirne) to test and recreate long-forgotten imperial dishes, whose recipes were traditionally kept secret. Some of the rediscovered dishes on the menu, such as veal in apple sauce, were served at the circumcision feast held for two of Suleyman’s son in 1539. The location might be off the beaten track, but Asitane is the one and only restaurant in the city where intrepid diners can experience such unlikely-sounding treats as almond soup. This is a restaurant for the serious culinary adventurer.” – Review from Style City Istanbul

The food certainly hit a palette I never knew I had. I’m no food connoisseur but being Chinese, I’m  use to MSG, artificial flavoring and spices. At the Asitane Restaurant, the dishes tasted like they were purely flavored with natural ingredients. JC and I shared a plate of stuffed calamari as an appetizer. It was a blend of rice and pine nuts flavored with cinnamon and fresh mint. Our main courses took a little longer to come but there wasn’t mcuh to complain about. We had a table right next to the door and we couldn’t help but marinate in the cool breeze.

As soon as our main course arrived, all small talk stopped. Our conversation consisted of ooohs and mmmhs. For my main course, I ordered the Mutanjene – diced lamb with dried apricots, raisins, honey and almonds. JC had the Muhmudiyee – chicken stewed with almonds, dried apricots and grapes, flavoured with honey and cinnamon. It was perfectly portioned for my belly. All was well until we ordered the Helatiye. It was a pudding dessert with almonds, pistachio, fruits and pomegranate seeds in rose-water syrup. It was like eating flowers. I was not a fan of the rose-water syrup.

Here are some of the fine Ottoman dishes that are served at the Asitane Restaurant. All images below are from Asitane’s Picasa gallery.

Islamophobia is anathema to rational thinking; (October 18, 2009)

            Islam is quickly becoming an integral religion in the Western world.  There is a growing sense of uneasiness for Islam devotees: they pray at least three times a day facing Mecca (the Kaaba) and take seriously the fasting month of Ramadan. The various Christian sects barely practice their religion; the “Christians” mostly use their religion as political platforms during voting seasons to discriminate among cultures for the “proper way of life”.  A recent scandal broke out in England: the government is wire taping the Moslems on ground of social study.  In France there was an attempt at disqualifying Arabs as carrier of any philosophical civilization that could have impressed on European Renaissance.  The Arabic media didn’t respond to “Aristotle on Mount St. Michelle” simply because the book talked of philosophical import and didn’t discuss the scientific aspects.

            The main confusion in Europe or in the Arab/Islamic world is about what Empires we are alluding to: Arabic Empires (culture) or Islamic Empires (civilization) and how to discriminate among the cultures of each one of the Empires.  The modern nationalistic models (brainchild of emerging Europe) could not correspond to ancient models of thinking and thus, the attempts to explaining past Empires with modern models of what constitute a nation is confusing research and biasing facts with awkward interpretations.

            In all periods, elites of Empires needed an ideology to assure the articulation of various heritages (Arab, Persian, Byzantium, Roman, Greek, and Aramaic).  The unstable structure of ancient Empires frequently pressed upon its elites to rethink the new culture of the emerging Empire and re-construct it via a mould where diverse elements were poured in (ethnicity, community, belief systems, and language).  Thus, social thinkers struggled to present a coherent understanding of the new Empire; the purpose was not an erudite analysis for posterity but to get the new Empire functioning properly.

            This post is meant to investigate the allegation that European civilization is fundamentally the heritage of ancient Greece civilization.  I have examined the contention that “Europe civilization is because of Christianism”, a proposal that I refuted in a previous post (read “The Barbaric Catholic Church of Rome”) where the centralized church prohibited the influx of “heretic” scientific manuscripts to Europe from the Near Eastern Byzantium Empire and later from the Islamic Empire till way the 16^th century.

            The best route for this examination is to consider two civilizations that imbibed the Islamic Empires.  The first Umayyad Arabic Empire 650 to 800 AC had for Capital Damascus; the culture in the Near East in that period was principally Hellenistic in the sense that scholars and educated people wrote in two languages, the Greek and Syriac languages (Aramaic dialect developed in Edesse, current Turkey) ; the common people spoke the language of the land or Aramaic.  Aramaic is the root language for Hebrew and the various local languages, especially the two Arabic branches that were spoken in Mecca and in Yemen.  It is in this period that lasted 150 years that translation of Greek and Syriac manuscripts into Arabic received its impetus.  Translation of Greek works to Syriac continued way into the 9^th century. The people easily assimilated the spoken Arabic of Mecca and gave Arabic its proper alphabet and grammar.

            The second period can be called the Islamic Empire when the Capital was re-located to the newly erected city of Baghdad (Baghdad was to become the largest metropolis in this Empire of over one million inhabitant); this Islamic civilization was marked by the Persian culture and language with high import from India: trade was cut off with Europe for many centuries first during the Mamluk Empires after kicking out the last remnant of the Crusaders and later the early Ottoman Empire as Constantinople fell in around 1450. 

            The Umayyad Dynasty exported to Islamic Persia the embryo of the current scientific works and the nascent Islamic philosophy (falsafa); the more developed scientific works were later mostly written in Persian language; the same scholars wrote the disciplines that were related to religion, philosophy, rhetoric, legal, mathematics, and algebra, in Arabic because they were needed for the proper function in the administration of the Empire.  Educated and cultured people who were familiar with Greek works met in “salons” (majalis) to discuss on various subjects, philosophical incursions into the possible, the intellect, the sensibility and the soul. 

            Schools of learning were erected and knowledge was no longer the prerogative of the initiation of master to disciple for rich people. By the first century of Islam (8^th century), schools were exploding everywhere with targeted practical disciplines (algebra, geometry, arithmetic, trigonometry, jurisprudence, theology (kalam), science of tradition (hadith), history, linguistic, lexicography, math combinatorial analysis, cryptography, and grammar) mainly to support the functions of the Empire administration and train cadres for offices such as fiscal, heritage, religious calendar, and army logistics. The schools were inspired by different traditions such as Greek, Persian, Indian, and Syriac).  By the second century of Islam specialized schools in theoretical mathematics, medicine, physics, optics, and astronomy were booming.

            The first acknowledged Moslem philosopher Al Kindi (9^th century) admitted that Aristotle was the most eminent Greek philosopher and wrote: “We have to thank the prior thinkers who shared with us what is right; they made it more accessible to us researching the truth and they provided the premises that leveled the way for what is true.  Offering reasons and demonstrations are part of the acquisition process in the sciences for veracity. Those strangers to scientific inquiries are trafficking in religion even though they have got no religion: indeed the one who sells one thing does no longer belong to him.”

            Personally, I tend to attribute the name of Islamic civilization for the import of scientific disciplines such as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, optics, and chemistry.  Arabic civilization should be restricted to the Umayyad Dynasty period in matters of rhetoric, legal, practical mathematics, Kalam (reflection on the world according to the Koran paradigm), grammars, language, and the import of any outside scientific knowledge that the Old World reserved in Constantinople, Persia, India, and China.

            A follow up post will demonstrate that European Renaissance in the 16^th century was fundamentally Islamic scientifically; the decentralization of the Christian power away from Rome was also inspired by the decentralization nature of Islam as a religion.  The title is “Europe’s Renaissance is Islamic”.  It is worthwhile for researchers not to confuse the recent period of Islamic radical decadence with early Islamic civilization that lasted from 650 to 1100 AC in the Orient and then re-surfaced in Andalusia (Spain) from 800 till 1400 AC.  After 1400 AC Christian Spanish monarchs chased out the Moslems and Jews from their kingdom; the Catholic Church in Rome instituted the Inquisition to harass the new converts to Christianity.

The devil is NOT in the details; (October 16, 2009)

            Details are what bring people together to communicate, dialogue, and negotiate to reach compromises.  The main wall that separate among communities is the concrete wall mixed with myths, general concepts, and abstract notions.  Strong with draft details each organization can start to sort out the differences and comprehend the big picture; it is never the way around in social behavior. I will discuss two cases, one religious and the other of political nature.

            After the crucifixion of Jesus many Christian sects were born in the Near East in the first four centuries.  Fundamentally, these sects were almost identical in applying the Jewish daily rituals or the Jewish 650 laws of “correct” conduct. What separated these sects were abstract concepts that did not harm their peaceful coexistence in separate communities of believers: they never attacked by force one another; military persecutions started when the Church acquired central power in Constantinople; whole “heretic” sects and entire communities had to flee to safety. 

            Thus, The Mighty Wall was erected after 325 AC when Byzantium Empire decided to adopt Christianity as the main religion of the Empire.  Thus, the central power concept of the Empire dictated that church should be centralized.  Instead of focusing in negotiating on the details that split the various sects an upper abstract super-structure on concepts was imposed; concepts such as the dual nature of Christ, the deity of the threes (the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit), the virginity of the mother Mary and on.  This time around, the sects were to join the Orthodox Church by force if need be: a central Empire cannot permit disunity, even on totally nonsense abstract conjectures!

            Consequently, the labeled “heretic” sects had to flee beyond the eastern shores of the Euphrates River (to the Persia Sassanide Dynasty).  The Nestourian sect reached China and translated “their” Bible into the Chinese language. Many other “heretic” sects settled in the Arabic Peninsula; the Christian-Jewish “Ebionite” sect was firmly entrenched in Mecca; the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, Ain Warkat, was the Patriarch of this sect and Muhammad learned to read in the Aramaic Ebionite Bible; Muhammad aided his uncle in the translation of this specific Bible into the Arabic slang of Mecca.  Thus, Islam is originally a common denominator “heretic” Christian sect, one of many Christian sects in the Arabic Peninsula; the Prophet had to delete all the abstract notions to unite the sects; it was named Islam or the belief in the One and only God.

            The strong animosity of the Catholic Church of Rome against Islam was not directed at a religion such as Buddhism or Mazdean but at a new “heretic” Christian sect usurping its central power in the Near East. The Orthodox Church in Constantinople was more lenient with Islam because it understood its genesis and the causes for the need of this new “heresy”; for Constantinople Islam was the oriental counterpart of Protestantism to Rome when Islam became the dominant religion in the region. 

            It is said: “the enemy of my enemy is my ally”; this Machiavellian principle was lost to obscurantist Catholic Church. Rome was too far away and fought Islam with the ignorance of abstract concepts. For the Catholic Church in 1,000 AC, Islam was doubly “heretic” instead of just the counterpart to the central Orthodox Church of the Byzantium Empire: it failed to realize that if Islam spread so fast and so widely it is mainly because most the labeled Christian heretic sects quickly converted to Islam as representing their system of belief against the monopole of Constantinople.

            The other case is the concept of a Syrian Nation with well delimited natural borders including Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and part of Iraq to the west of the Tiger (Dujlat) River. This concept was highly widespread among the people of the region as the Ottoman Empire was dying during WWI.  It was still even more alive during the mandate of France and Britain to the region (Near East) after WWI. The people in the Syrian Nation speak one language and have the same customs and tradition.  This nation was as natural as ABC; the immigrants were first called Turks during the Ottoman Empire and then they were all called Syrians regardless of location or religion.

            The main problem is that the political parties spent two critical decades proving the evident (according to the newer definitions of the West for a Nation) instead of making the effort to developing draft detailed programs on the type of political administrative structure for this nation, the social representation, and election laws; (for example, is it a Federal structure like the USA where each mandated State is fully autonomous with local government and local parliament, or provinces tailored made to religious, ethnic, and sectarian majorities, or loosely united States with open borders, common money, central army, or centralized foreign affairs; is Syria to be a monarchy and what kind). 

            Instead of discussing detailed programs, political parties mushroomed with abstract concepts not based on facts or pragmatic long-term goals. The colonial “mandated powers” of France and England had field days of “dividing to rule”.  Every sect established its political party in every potential State claiming either total independence, or seeking a pan-Arabic Nation of Arabic speaking majorities in States, or Islamic Nation.  We watched the emergence of communist parties disclaiming the notion of affiliating to a nation, to sectarian parties claiming democracy, socialism, and progressive. The worst propaganda that was encouraged by the colonial powers is to incite citizens against the Syrian people with the objective of discrediting the word Syria and giving it a bad connotation.

              Natural borders of chain of mountains, desert, or large rivers do not necessarily protect from invasions; natural borders certainly encourage people to trade and interact inside the borders.  It is the internal rough geography and terrain that protects from outside military incursions.  Once a force crosses the border then Syria is an open land all the way to Egypt. Syria, or the Near East, was continuously occupied by foreign armies: these foreign invaders had to retreat quickly or get absorbed culturally. Whatever monuments, constructions, temples, sport arena, or scholarly works that were attributed to invading nations (Persia, Egypt, Greek, Rome, or Arab) are basically the work of the Near Eastern civilization, their scholars, their craftsmen, and their adventurous business acumen.

            The City-States in the Near East (Tyr, Sidon, Byblos, Ugharit, Mary …) competed in commerce and trade but never attacked one another militarily.  In Greece, City-States frequently waged military wars against one another.  The Near Eastern people adopted defensive strategy; even Carthage in its apogee refrained to antagonize Rome militarily.

            Egypt and Persia frequent invasions in the Near East did not last long.  The Greek were absorbed: what Europe claim as Greek civilization is nothing less than the civilization of the Greek writing Syrians who spoke Aramaic.  Rome was finally absorbed: the Roman Laws are of the legal minds from the school of Beirut and the latest Emperors were born, raised, and educated in Syria. The Byzantium Empire was fundamentally a Near Eastern Empire.  The Arabs from the Arabic Peninsula were absorbed when Damascus was selected as Capital during the Umayyad Dynasty; the Arabs were absorbed by the Persian civilization when the capital shifted to Baghdad.  The Mogul retreated quickly but established long lasting Empires in India and Afghanistan. The Ottoman conquered this land and could not be absorbed: the Syrian people were already exhausted from many years of successive invasions, religious obscurantism, and immigration by scholars to greener pastures.  France and England retreated within two decades.  Israel failed to retreat on time and is now being absorbed as Near Eastern regardless of Israel attempts to seeking European image.

            Consequently, failing to writing a draft on a possible administrative program for the Syrian Nation opened the door to abstract concept instead of working out negotiation and dialogue on pragmatic matters that concerned the people.

This post is part 8 of 17 of my trip to Istanbul. The series intends to give more than just a I-saw-this-and-did-that review. It aims to share the voice inside my head as I explore a world I’ve only read in books.

The Bosporus River is the winding water way that divides Turkey into two. Most tourists stay on the European side and take short day trips across to Uskudar or Kadikoy, which is located on the Asian side. It’s vice-versa with Istanbulites. Many of them live on the Asian side and commute via ferry to the European side.

Every guide book and website I came across before my trip to Istanbul said that the Bosporus cruise is a must-do. So JC and I boarded our ship at Eminonu. The cruise was about 6 hours long and took up the entire day. We made alternate stops along the European and Asian side of the river. Some people got off and others got on. The length of the cruise varies depending on the amount of time you spend exploring each port.

The Rainbow Warrior

It would be very lengthy, and extremely boring, if I were to share with you everything I saw along the river. If you’re interested, Rick Steve does an incredible job with his self-guided tour of the Bosporus Cruise. But he never told me that we’d be getting a nice surprise from Greenpeace. They were there to protest for a ban on the trade of  Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean.

When our ship left the dock at Eminonu, it gave us an amazing view of the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque. All along the river, left and right, grand villas and marble palaces added a modern twist to the stone fortress and small fishing villages nearby. We cruised by the Dolmabahce Mosque and Dolmabahce Palace where the sultan lived after he and his royal family moved out of the Topkapi Palace in an effort to become more westernized.

We passed under the Bosporus Bridge and came upon the Rumeli Hisari, also known as the Fortress of Europe. It was built by Mehmet the Conqueror  in 1452. The entire fortress was completed in 4 1/2 months. It was built to control the passage of ships up and down the Bosporus. The Rumeli Hisari became a checkpoint when Constantinople. It was also used to hold war prisoners. Today, the fortress is a museum and contains an open-air theater for summer concerts and festivals.

In about an hour and a half, our ship docked at Anadolu Kavagı. JC and I got off and hiked up to Yoros Castle. We were a little confused as to why there were no maps or signs to direct us. The path was isolated and eerie. Our route took us by a horse that seem to have appeared out of no where and we encountered a number of stray and very hungry dogs. We also passed through a cemetery and a couple of Turkish military bases. The soldiers did not look friendly. Once we arrived to the foot of the hill where the castle was located we realized that if we had just turned one more page in Rick Steve’s guide book, we would have seen a set of directions that would have taken us up to Yoros Castle. Instead we went off the beaten path.

When we reached the top, we were rewarded with a panoramic view of where the Bosporus River meets the Black Sea – the name sounds so ominous. Before the Byzantine period, the Yoros Castle was used by the Greeks and Phoenicians for trade and military purposes. There use to be a massive chain that extended across the width of the Bosporus from the Yoros Castle to the Rumeli Kavagı, located on the opposite side of the river. The chain was used to prevent attacking warships from entering the strait and into the city. What’s left of the Yoros Castle now are the ruins and the castle’s surrounding walls. The mosque and towers have disappeared.

The wind was gusty at the top of Yoros Castle but it felt so good against my skin. JC and I climbed as high as we could along the wall and sat there for a few hours. We stared out to sea as it turned from patches of blue to sea-green. When we saw that the gray clouds were coming in from the Black Sea, we decided that it was time to head back. We didn’t want to get caught in the rain. I took a nap on our cruise back to to Eminonu and by the time we docked, it was starting to get dark and we were starving. We walk towards the fish boats on the dock and had fish sandwiches for dinner again.

Pages : 250

Contents :
Map I The Ottoman Empire in its Final Decade
Map II Railways in the Ottoman Empire 1914
Introduction

1 The Late Ottoman Empire
By Feroz Ahmad
2 The Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, 1900–18
By F.R.Bridge
3 Italy and the End of the Ottoman Empire
By R.J.B.Bosworth
4 Russia and the End of the Ottoman Empire
by Alan Bodger
5 Germany and the End of the Ottoman Empire
By Ulrich Trumpener
6 France and the End of the Ottoman Empire
By L.Bruce Fulton
7 Great Britain and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1900–23
By Marian Kent

Bibliography
Index

Nemika Sultan on the right, after the exile

 

Exiled Ottomans carry on legacy in Lebanon

Cagil M. Kasapoglu
TRIPOLI, Lebanon – Hürriyet Daily News
Friday, October 9, 2009

Though Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu, who died in September, may have been the last in line for the Ottoman throne, but descendents of the family live on in Lebanon. Asked about being an Ottoman descendent, Jour says, ‘It’s only the pride and the blood given me by my family that I’ve got now’  

 

Shehzade Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu, the grandson of the 34th Ottoman ruler Abdülhamit II, may have been identified as the last senior member of the former Ottoman dynasty, but he certainly was not the “Last Ottoman,” since his relatives still carry Abdülhamit II’s legacy in Lebanon.

Following the Turkish Republic’s foundation, all members of Ottoman family were expelled from the new state. Had this not occurred, Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu, 97, who died last month, would have ruled as both Sultan and the Caliph of the Muslim world. However, after the expulsion, Ottomans settled in different parts of the world, just like İbrahim Jour’s Lebanese Ottoman ancestors.

“He was a fascinating and inspiring figure,” Jour said, referring to Osmanoğlu, whom he met in New York where Osmanoğlu was living before the latter moved back to Turkey in 1992. Interested in discovering his blood ties and his roots, Jour was told by Osmanoğlu about the harsher aspects of exile and the difficulties of starting a new life after losing the comforts of royalty.

Osmanoğlu’s tale of exile was also shared by Jour’s great-grandmother, Nemika Sultan, the daughter of Abdülhamit II’s first son, Mehmet Selim Paşa, Osmanoğlu’s uncle. After being expelled from Turkey, Nemika Sultan had to leave the royal prosperity of the palace and move first to France and then to Lebanon. 

Jour is one of the younger Lebanese members of the Ottoman family, five generations removed from Abdülhamit II. He is related to the sultan through his mother Leyla Ethem Kenan, the granddaughter of Abdülhamit II’s third generation “kerime,” or daughter, Nemika Sultan.

Only blood, pride:

Asked about being an Ottoman descendent, the 26-year-old Jour said, “It’s only the pride and the blood given me by my family that I’ve got now,” during an interview at his residency in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon.

Gilded candlesticks and glorious chandeliers with glittering ashtrays placed next to Lebanese-style furniture perfectly reflected the blend of oriental and Ottoman designs in Jour’s living room. The wooden walls were ornamented with pictures of his Ottoman ancestors. Indeed, the largest and most splendid frames were reserved for Abdülhamit II and his first granddaughter Emine Nemika Esin.

Nemika Sultan, the first daughter of Abdülhamit II’s eldest son Shehzade Mehmet Selim Efendi, lived for a long period in the protected harem of Yıldız Palace, or Star Palace, in Istanbul. A year after the establishment of Turkish Republic, in 1924, the caliphate was also abolished by the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

It was not a particularly smooth move for Nemika Sultan to leave the Yıldız Palace where her wedding with Damat Ali Kenan Bey, a successful soldier in the Ottoman Army, had been celebrated for days and nights.

“The ladies of the palace had four days to pack and leave the palace, whereas, for the Beys [male members of the family], they had only two,” said Leyla Kenan Hanım.

“She was expelled without even being given any time to take her belongings. She only had her diamond crown and her dress on, which she later sold to find a place to live in Paris,” Leyla Hanım said while displaying the pictures of her grandmother in humble dark clothes.

When Leyla Hanım visited Yıldız Palace for the first time, she was only 12, and her grandmother was living in a small flat located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Born and raised in Lebanon, Leyla Hanım’s first impressions of Abdülhamit II’s palace were characterized by sorrow rather than glory.

“At the entrance of the palace, I saw a large, glittering frame of my grandmother, Nemika Sultan, in her sublime clothes. But knowing that she was actually in her new poor residency with no single trace of her past richness was the most moving moment of my life,” Leyla Hanım said with eyes lowered in tears.

İbrahim Jour is now a successful doctor currently treating the residents of Beirut. He hoped that the next generation of Ottoman descendents would not only be well educated, but also interconnected through alternative means of communication.

“Although many members of the family live abroad, we are keen on keeping the family tradition alive and our ties tight with a secret group we created on Facebook!” said Jour, referring to the popular social network Web site.

© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=exiled-ottomans-carry-legacy-in-lebanon-2009-10-09