The Pope's visit, the Eastern Question, and the Crusader mentality

Pope Leo XIV's visit to Turkey was quite controversial due to the visits he made and the speeches he delivered. The Pope arrived in our country on the 930th anniversary of the speech that launched the 200-year-long Crusades. He insistently referred to the Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener, which is under the jurisdiction of the Fatih District Governorate, as "ecumenical." During this visit, the Turkish nation learned from the statements made by the US Ambassador to Ankara—who even provided a date for the school's reopening—about what kind of contacts were made for the reopening of the Halki Seminary.

It appears that just as many promises were made prior to the visit, the Pope received many of the commitments he sought during the visit as well. The silence of media outlets close to the government already indicates this. We do not yet know what kind of gains Turkey has achieved.

The Vatican is not only a religious institution but also a state—a state with significant weight in world politics and a very strong financial structure.

We recall the active role the church played during the process when the Ottoman Empire was being dismantled and minorities were rebelling to establish their own states. Therefore, it is worth drawing attention to the place of the Eastern Question—the "Şark Meselesi"—which was one of the priority agenda items of world politics from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, in the memory of the imperialist West. We know that the fundamental cause of the First World War (1914–1918), which was a very important stage within the scope of the Eastern Question—one of the most significant issues of the 19th century—was, in the final analysis, the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire.

That period was a time when rebellions and terrorist acts in Ottoman territories intensified with external support. Austria and Russia had designs on the Balkans; England and Russia, in particular, had designs on the Straits. While England was calculating how to keep the Near Eastern routes to India secure, France was making plans regarding Syria.

The Great War began with a terrorist act. When the Austrian Crown Prince was assassinated in 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia, supporting Serbia, did not remain silent and declared general mobilization. Upon Russia's decision, Germany declared war on both Russia and France. Furthermore, it did not respect Belgium's neutrality and occupied the country. Following this, England declared war on Germany. Germany's greatest fear was fighting on multiple fronts at the same time. In the end, its fear became reality, and it was forced to fight on multiple fronts.

THE IMPERIALIST HOSTILITY TOWARD TURKS

Let us reiterate: the root of the Eastern Question lies in the hatred harbored by Christian Europeans against the Muslim Turks who migrated from Central Asia to the West and established powerful states, and in their policy of pushing the Turks back and, if possible, driving them back to the Central Asian steppes. In this way, the West aims to kill several birds with one stone. According to this calculation, it will remove an obstacle in front of its imperialist ambitions, avenge the Crusades, and gain easier access to the East's rich underground and surface resources.

The methods applied and the tools used by the great powers of that era, who wanted to weaken and dismantle the Ottoman Empire, are also being used today by imperialist centers against Turkey. At that time, with the strong winds blown by the 1789 French Revolution, minorities within the Ottoman Empire were utilized. The nationalist movement, starting from the Balkans, was very effective in the dissolution of the empire. First the Christian subjects, then the Arabs broke away. Furthermore, the state, which received its first foreign loan in 1854 during the Crimean War (1853–1856), was intended to be kept in a state of constant economic indebtedness and made dependent on Western creditor countries. The Capitulations accelerated the country's collapse. The Western imperialists, who were struggling to seize colonies and fighting among themselves for raw materials, markets, and cheap labor, held the same attitude toward the Ottoman Empire. They wanted to liquidate the Ottoman state as soon as possible and share its lands and resources.

THE SITUATION PRIOR TO THE EASTERN QUESTION

Let us go back a few centuries before the period when the Eastern Question emerged. In the places Europeans called the Orient—the East—Arabs, Turks, and Persians lived. Europeans first encountered the Turks during the Crusades. In the eyes of Europeans, the Turks coming from Central Asia were different from other Easterners in many respects. Over time, the relationship, as well as the conflict, between the Turks and Europeans increased, developed, and diversified.

In the 16th century, considered the peak of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks were both upholding Islamic civilization and protecting it against the West, while also emerging as the most powerful Islamic state and reaching deep into Europe, to the gates of Vienna. The Sublime Porte (Devlet-i Aliyye) had high influence, a population reaching 14 million, and territory spanning 11 million square kilometers across 3 continents. This meant an area larger than the Roman Empire. At that time, Spain was a state with 5 million people and England with 2.5 million. The capital, Istanbul, with a population reaching half a million, was the largest city in Europe.

In the 16th century, the church in Europe was also experiencing its glorious days. It was adding a religious and cultural dimension to the political reaction against the Ottomans. It was also very powerful financially. It owned half of the total wealth in Germany, three-quarters in France, and one-third of the land in Italy. The church had become so intertwined with money and so corrupt that the bribes circulating in papal elections were far greater than the bribes circulating in palaces.

We know what happened afterward. In the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, missionary schools worked as hard as the church. They encouraged, provoked, and organized Ottoman minorities.

Therefore, we never forget: when geopolitics is discussed in international relations and when one ponders political economy, theopolitics must also be taken into account.