peace, calm and brotherhood is to raise people with proper moral
values, who are just, devout and patriotic. The way to do that is by
elevating national and spiritual values by using modern means and
methods of communication. The current young generation of Turks must
be made aware of their Turkish and Muslimidentity and of their Ottoman
legacy by means of modern meansof mass communications.In order for the
importance of this Muslim Turkish identity to be properly appreciated,
they must be told how people possessing that identity ordered the
world for hundreds of years.
Over the course of history the Turkish Nation founded 16 powerful
states, and with the superior ability it demonstrated in the
administration of those states it constitutes a historic model for all
the nations of the world. The strength of the Muslim Turkish Nation,
and particularly the Seljuk and the Ottoman empires, cannot be
explained in terms of military strength alone. It was a moral
conception based on thevalues of the Qur'an that underlay the force
that governed the world's most complex and sensitive region over
thecenturies.
The main features of thismoral conception revealed by our Lord in the
Qur'an are behaving honestly and generously by avoiding oppression and
injustice, maintaining justice no matter what the circumstances, and
always favoring tolerance and reconciliation. It is because of these
characteristics that the peoples subject to them were always content
with the rule of the Muslim Turks, and even generally entered under
their rule of their own free will. It was thanks to this just rule
under the Ottoman Empire that members of the three Abrahamic faiths
and many sects and millions of people with completely different
languages, cultures and ethnic origins lived together in peace for
hundreds of years in an area including the whole of the Balkans, the
Caucasus and the Middle East.
In our day, however, thesuffering, tears, oppression and war in those
same lands refuse to come to an end. The "Ottoman Territories" made up
of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus, with Turkey in their
center, are still veryactive and complex in structure. The vacuum that
arose in the region in the wake of the Ottoman Empire has yet to be
filled and no real security has been established. This has attracted
the notice of the Muslim Turkish Nation that applied an exemplary
"co-existence model" in these same lands for hundreds of years under
Ottoman leadership. And this model reveals the fact that it can only
be made a reality today and in the future by the Muslim Turkish
Nation. Indeed, many statesmen, political scientists and
researcher/authors havebeen examining this justsystem of
administrationimplemented with such success by the Turkic states,
especially the Ottoman Empire. The aimbehind this investigationis to
establish a new administrative model based on that applied bythe
Turks.
History shows that permanent peace can bebrought to both the Middle
East and to the Balkans and the Caucasus under Turkish leadership,
that of the heir to the Ottoman legacy. A union established under
Turkey's leadership will both put an end to the conflicts and bring
permanent peace to the region and also raise thestandards of living of
all the peoples there as they become part of a powerful economic
union.
The Turkish Nation possesses a very sound and deep-rooted legacy. The
important thing is toproperly understand that legacy and to turn our
faces to the future while fully adopting our past.
The most powerful model, in military, political and economic terms,
available to the states in the region is one resulting from their
joining forces rather than clashing with one another. A common
foreign policy will make these states a power in world politics. For
that reason, Turkey's mission regarding the future in this new age,
the 21st century, must be one compatible with the greatness and glory
of the Muslim Turkish states. Moreover, as in the past this mission
must be one that will elevate Turkey to the highest peaks and place it
among the world's leading states, the position it deserves. The
solution sought by the Muslim Turkish Nation, which founded the most
powerful civilizations in world history and reigned over the whole of
the Mediterranean and the Middle East, lies in its own history.
The responsibility of the individual members, the children, of a
nation thatfounded glorious states over the centuries and ruled over
three continents, and that has the potential to establisha new world
state in the 21st century is to correctly understand and act on the
material and spiritual values that made the Ottomans what they were.
The Ottoman example shows that the Turkish Nation has the requisite
experience, ability and strength to easily manage a wide expanse of
territory. The important thing is to properly evaluate these values
that were so elevated in the Ottoman Empire and re-interpret them and
apply them to our own age.
As in the past, so today, with its patience, faith and excellent moral
values, the Muslim-Turkish Nation will support the wronged against the
oppressor, and will unite people from different cultures and origins
under the umbrella of justice and tolerance, and will thus establish
the climate of peace and security for which the whole world is
longing.
By the will of Allah, the 21st century will be an age of enlightenment
for all Muslim and Turkish people...
The disorder and confusion in the Middle East in recent years has led
world historians to intensively investigate the Ottoman Empire.
Seven hundred fifty foreign scholars applied to attend the 15th
Turkish History Congress held by the Turkish History Institution (THI)
on 1-15 September, 2006.
THI President Yusuf Halacoglu stated that therecord demand for
attendance stemmed from increasing interest in Turkey and the Ottoman
Empire on the part of historians.
Halacoglu described this interest by saying, "The lands where the
events in the Middle East taking place in Ottoman territories has
encouraged much greater research in theselands on the part of
historians." Prof. Ilber Ortayli, a member of the Preparatory
Committee, stated that previously only Europeans had been interested
in the Ottoman Empire, though now the whole world was interested in
it.
The reason for their success in the Gallipoli Campaign was the
devotion Turkish troops demonstrated to Islamic moral values.
There is no doubt that one of the most important events in Turkish
history is the War of Independence. The religious behavior of the
Turkish Nation played a major role in the winning of that war.Turks,
young and old, displayed enormous self-sacrifice and made amajor
contribution to the preservation of the country. Ataturk saw that it
was its spiritual strength that kept the heroic Turkish Army going
during the Gallipoli Campaign and described the determination of the
troops in these words:
They see the dying, know they will die in three minutes, but display
not the slightest defeatism; there is no wavering! Those who can read
hold the Holy Qur'an and prepare to enter paradise. Those who cannot,
march reciting the Confession of Faith. This is an astonishing and
laudable model that shows the spiritual power in Turkish troops.You
must be sure that it is this loft soul that won the Gallipoli
Campaign. (Selected Passages from Ataturk, Collected by: Cihat Imer,
Remzi Press, 1989, p. 13)
It was by means of this faith, despite losing tens of thousands of
martyrs, that the Turkish Army was able to fight so heroically at
Gallipoli without the slightest uncertainty or wavering.
The whole world is interested in the Ottoman model
A documentary on the Ottomans produced by the world-famous History
Channel was broadcast in the USA in early 2007. The documentary
provided alengthy description of the reigns of sultans Mehmet the
Conqueror, Selim the Stern and Suleyman the Magnificent.
It emphasized how the Ottoman Empire, described as the protector of
truth and justice, was open to all faiths and beliefs.
It also touched on the Ottoman policy of conquest and described how
this was not based on religious or ethnic principles. It also
praisedthe legal system drawn up in the reign of Suleyman the
Magnificent. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -
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