TÜRKİYE NEDEN BİR AVRUPA ÜLKESİDİR? (16.12.2004)

Bütün dünyadaki hanedanları takip eden ve kayıtlarını tutan "Almanach de Bruxelles"e ait sitenin,

http://www.almanach.be/newsletter/mail2.html

sayfasında haftanın konusu olarak "Türkiye neden bir Avrupa ülkesidir?" sorusu ele alınmış.

Cevap olarak da 1903 yılında yani daha 100 yıl evvel, yine en meşhur Avrupa almanağı olan "Almanach de Gotha"daki Osmanlı padişahının unvanları aktarılmış. Siyah yazılı yerler Avrupa topraklarındadır.

Almanach de Bruxelles
The Website of Dynasties out of Europe

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER N° 61, 11th December 2004

It is more likely to find a good ruler by heredity than by elections (Napoléon Bonaparte).

THE TOPIC OF THE WEEK: WHY TURKEY IS A EUROPEAN COUNTRY

In the Almanach de Gotha 1903, the Ottoman Sultan was titled:
Sovereign of The Osman Family: a family title;
Sultan es Selatin (Sultan of Sultans or Grand Sultan); a title above the title of Sultan;
Khakhan (Khan of the Khans, similar to King of Kings); a title above the title of Khan;
Caliph of the Faithful; a Muslim religious title;
Servant of the Cities of Mecca, Medina and Kouds (Jerusalem): a Muslim religious title;
Padishah of The Three Cities of Istanbul (Constantinople), Edirne (Andrinople) and Bursa (in French: Brousse, in Turkish: Houdavendighiar): in European and Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the City of Châm: or Damascus;
Padishah of Misr: or Egypt;
Padishah of all Azerbaijan;
Padishah of Maegris: in Ethiopia;
Padishah of Barkah: in the Sinai or in Saudi Arabia ?;
Padishah of Kairouan: in Tunisia;
Padishah of Alep: in Syria;
Padishah of Iraq;
Padishah of Arabia;
Padishah of Ajim: in Tunisia;
Padishah of Basra: in Iraq (in French: Bassora);
Padishah of Al Hasa: probably in today's Saudi Arabia;
Padishah of Dilen: in Sudan;
Padishah of Raka: in Saudi Arabia;
Padishah of Mosul: in Iraq (in French: Mossoul);
Padishah of Parthia: an old Persian empire that at one time occupied areas now in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaidzhan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, later the Sasanid empire i.e. a claim on Iran;
Padishah of Diyarbakir: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of Cilicia: in Asian Turkey and referring also to Armenia;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Erzurum: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Sivas: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Adana: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Karaman: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Van: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet(s) of Barbaria: the old name of Northern Africa;
Padishah of the Vilayet(s) of Habech: the old name of Abyssinia (or Ethiopia);
Padishah of the Vilayet(s) of of Tunisia;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Tyrabolos: Tripoli in Lybia;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Châm: Damascus;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Kybris: Cyprus;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Rhodes (in Turkish, Djezair i Bahrisefid): in Greece;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Candia: or Creta, in Greece;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Morea: or Peloponnese, in Greece;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Ak Deniz (Marmara Sea), partly in Europe;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Kara Deniz (Black Sea), partly in Europe;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Anatolia: in Asian Turkey;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Rumelia: the European part of the Empire, including all the Balkan countries;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Bagdad, in Iraq;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Kurdistan, in today's Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Greece;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Turkestan: divided today among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan (Northeast province), and China (part of Xinjiang Uygur province).
Padishah of the Vilayet of Tartary: or Tatary, a vast region of eastern Europe and northern Asia controlled by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries, it extended as far east as the Pacific Ocean under the rule of Genghis Khan;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Circassia: historic region, encompassing roughly the area between the Black Sea, the Kuban River, and the Caucasus, now largely the KrasnodarTerritory of south east European Russia. The Circassians are a Muslim people, whose Russian name is Cherkess and whose native name is Adygey. They are now officially classified as 3 peoples: the Kabarda, in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, the Circassians or Cherkess, in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, and the Adygey, in the Adygey Republic. The term Circassian has sometimes been incorrectly applied to all the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus. Known in antiquity, they inhabited the western side of the Caucasus and the Crimea and were known to the Greeks as the Zyukhoy. They were Christianized in the 6th century AD but adopted Islam in the 17th century after coming under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. In 1829 the Ottoman Turks were forced to cede Circassia to Russia. At this time the Circassians occupied almost the entire area between the main Caucasian range, the Kuban River, and the Black Sea. In the many Russo-Turkish wars in the first half of the 19th century, the Circassians bitterly fought the Russians. After the Russian conquest of the area, about 400,000 Circassians migrated to Turkey (1861-1864). Circassian women were reputed to be great beauties, and many were sold into slavery in Turkey. There are today large Circassian groups in Turkey, Syria, and Jordan (Columbia Encyclopaedia);
Padishah of the Vilayet of the two regions of Kabarda: see just above;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Gorjestan: or Georgia, part of the area is still in Iran;
Padishah of the Vilayet of the plain of Kypshak: Kypshak is located in Uzbekistan but there is a Kypshak tribe in Kazakhstan;
Padishah of the Vilayet of the whole country of the Tartars: or Tatars, a vast region of eastern Europe and northern Asia controlled by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries, it extended as far east as the Pacific Ocean under the rule of Genghis Khan;
Padishah of the Vilayet of Kefa and of all the neighbouring countries: it is a major Black Sea port at the western end of the Feodosiya Gulf. Feodosiya is also a rail terminus. A popular Crimean sea and health resort, Feodosiya has beaches, mineral springs, and mud baths. The city occupies the site of ancient Theodosia, which was founded in the 6th century BC by Greek colonists from Miletus. Theodosia, noted for its grain exports, was destroyed by the Huns in the 4th century AD; it existed thereafter as an insignificant village until the Genoese arrived in the 13th century, established a flourishing trade colony, and virtually monopolized Black Sea commerce. Under their rule, the city was called Caffa or Kaffa (Kefa) and served as the chief port and administrative center of Genoese possessions along the Black Sea coast. The khan of Crimea, an ally of the Turks, conquered the city in 1475; it remained under Turko-Tatar control until Russia's annexation of the Crimea in 1783. In 1802 it was named Feodosiya. German forces captured it twice during World War II. The ruins of the Genoese fortifications still stand (Columbia Encyclopaedia);
Padishah of the Vilayet of Bosnia and dependencies;
Padishah of the Vilayet of the City of Belgrade: in Serbia;
Padishah of the Vilayet of the Vilayet of Serf (Serbia), with all the castles and cities;
Padishah of all the Arnaut Vilayet: i.e. Albania;
Padishah of the Vilayet of all Iflak and Bogdania: Iflak is the Turkish name of Wallachia and Bogdania is the old name of Moldavia, the 2 constituent parts of Romania;
as well as all the dependencies and borders, and many others countries and cities.

Padishah means Sovereign (sometimes translated incorrectly as Emperor, literally Great King).

Vilayet is defined as one of the chief administrative divisions of Turkey having as head a Vali who represents the government (Merriam Webster).

The titles above in grass letters refer to the Ottoman rule in Europe, although Turkey shrinked from 2.9 million km² in 1910 to 780,576 km² today, after most of the European and Middle Eastern parts were lost to Russia and other European powers.

These titles also underestimate the Christian heritage of Constantinople (formerly Byzantium) that resulted in a long tradition of religious tolerance that allowed the Muslims, the Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) and the Jews, not only to practice their religion but also to share the power. Istanbul is the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the largest Orthodox church out of Russia, and of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople Istanbul, one of the 4 patriarchates of the Armenian Church.

It is therefore difficult to understand the opposition of some countries in the European Union, especially France, to a quick integration of Turkey, when Turkey was the first and until now the only Muslim country to declare the separation between the state and the religion, as early as 1928, a topic defended quite boldly by the French today.

It would be also a unique opportunity to show to the rest of the world that Muslims are eager to join the community of nations that respect the freedoms that have been available in Turkey for so long, with a perspective of prosperity for everybody, as Malaysia has shown us for several decades.

Bu yazı, 16 Aralık 2004 tarihinde http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OSMANLILAR adresindeki OSMANLILAR mesajlaşma grubunda yayınlanmıştır.