Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı writes: 'An open attack on Atatürk has begun'

Renowned historian Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı stated in his column for Hürriyet that there is an attack directed at Atatürk.

In his article, Ortaylı noted the following:

"INTERPRETATIONS MADE WITH THIS INFORMATION HAVE NO VALIDITY"

"The current form of the Turkish State is a republic. We are an old state. The Ottoman Empire was the empire of the Turks, and this is the republic of the Turks. Our commanders, civil administrators, and intellectuals who founded the Republic did not descend from the sky. They were all people raised by that empire. More precisely, because the empire was a structure unique to Turks in the East, it was able to transform its human element—its administration, army, and technology—in accordance with the requirements of the century.

The Turkish revolution and reforms were not made to erase the past. On the contrary, they require returning to and looking at the past more consciously. If you cannot do both, the outcome is clear. In other words, Turks have turned into a society that makes history but cannot write it; a society that has emerged unscathed from the whirlpools and dark paths of a magnificent history, but today cannot discuss this with the same certainty and success, and has become a society that puts forward so-called theses by using historical knowledge as a tool for crude daily politics. For this reason, schools cannot provide sufficient historical knowledge and education, and what is written and published in the free market outside is persistently evaluated. Most of this information and the interpretations made have no validity."

"AN OPEN ATTACK ON ATATÜRK HAS BEGUN"

An open attack has begun against our Marshal Atatürk, who founded the Republic. I no longer believe that this is even based on an ideology or a misinterpretation of history. There are ethnic motives behind it. Some groups have a tendency to belittle the generals, statesmen, historical structures, and even the culture of the Turks. They think that by belittling them, they will elevate themselves. It is a ridiculous situation. None of the Muslims in the great Russian Empire chose to elevate their own national identity by attacking Pushkin, Tolstoy, or Russian music. Undoubtedly, educated nations like the Czechs and Hungarians did not fall into the trap of destructive nationalism in the Austrian Empire.

In the history of our state and society, this path, which was first tried in the Balkans in the 19th and 20th centuries, did not lead anywhere. The nationalism and historical identities of the Balkan peoples could not be established on a solid foundation. Now, they want to try solving identity problems in another field again. We have such an inference here as well; an attempt to erode the identity of the main element. There is no end to this cheering. We saw this in the recent parliamentary debates as well."

HE ATTENDED THE SAME WEDDING AS KONAKÇI

Last week, Ortaylı attended the wedding ceremony of Berna Sultan Osmanoğlu, the 5th-generation granddaughter of Abdulhamid II, which was held in Istanbul with a mehter band. Former Welfare Party MP Şevki Yılmaz and Halil Konakçı also attended the ceremony.

Yılmaz's remarks about Atatürk at the ceremony drew backlash, and Ortaylı, who attended the ceremony, was also criticized.

News Source: 12punto