İlber Ortaylı: 'The Republic of Turkey is the continuation of the Ottoman Empire'

Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı met with citizens in Samsun as part of the "Turkey Century Talks" program. Ortaylı made statements regarding the concept of the Republic, its history, and the immigration of countries.

A large number of citizens attended the program held by the Samsun Metropolitan Municipality at the Multi-Purpose Hall. Speaking at the well-attended program, İlber Ortaylı said, "There is an entity called the Republic of Turkey. This Republic is being promoted more today than ever before. It has always had a positive image of its own in the world."

'WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TRAIN OUR PEASANTRY'

İlber Ortaylı gave the following answer to the question asked by the program's moderator, "How does immigration from outside the country change a country?":

“There is an ongoing debate. The saying ‘Turkey is not an immigration country’ is a very crude statement and is not valid. It is impossible for countries that are developing, changing, and doing certain things in the world not to be immigration countries. We are establishing industry here, developing the navy, and we will solve the problems in our agricultural structure. People come here. They also come for moral reasons. I cannot just stand by and watch like a commodity while the Chinese slaughter the Uyghurs.

China is a shameless country; they have no respect for their people, and they use their own people like slaves in business life. They even rent out slaves to foreign investors. It is a place where human life has no importance. It is very clear. I cannot trust this. But no one is going to go around chasing the Chinese for the sake of the Uyghurs. That is not how it works. That is madness. The Uyghurs are the oldest Turkic state. They have such deep ties with us. The Turkish they speak, their dialects, are like ours. You take them in. Why do you take them in? Because our peasantry is finished. We have not been able to train our peasantry.

We have not been able to establish a good order for the family structure in the village. The old woman and the old man are inflicting all kinds of torment on the daughter-in-law and the son. That is not how a village should be. When I was a child, I would go to the village in Austria where I stayed. The old lady and her husband would sit there like a lady and gentleman, and no one would say anything. Others would clean up after their cows. Such an order was established. We do not have this. What Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary do is you have to make your peasantry travel. They will vaccinate, they will know how to herd. They are migrating to these places. Who will pick these hazelnuts, who will manage these fruits? All of these need to come from outside. What are 3 and a half million Syrians looking for here? That Syrian will not do these jobs. America has deserts, it has greenery. Every place is fertile. It does not take them, but I will. Why should I take them?” he said.

'WE DID NOT INHERIT A DESERT FROM THE EMPIRE'

Stating that the Republic of Turkey is the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, İlber Ortaylı said the following:

“There are people who do not like this place, there are ethnic groups. Some are encouraged from the outside. They will regret it. According to our observations, there is no such overall improvement as in Turkey everywhere. There is inequality between regions, but this situation is better in Turkey than in many other countries. Pakistan and India cannot manage this. The Soviet Union could not manage this. Even nations that are very talented, extremely suitable for cultural development, and have very heavy histories have not been able to reach the level they deserve.

Turkey's industrial development is very strong. We did not inherit a desert from the Empire; forget that myth. As we entered the 20th century, we were not left with a desert. There was a railway, for better or worse. Others had built it, but we also know a few things. We have masters in national defense and the arms industry. We have some engineers. We have established certain factories, especially for the needs of the army. There have been some changes in agriculture. Important steps have been taken in schooling. The Republic of Turkey is the continuation of the Ottoman Empire."