Turkey is a country I have dreamt of visiting from childhood, in my imagination, the strait of Bosporus always flickered out the colour of azure in the Mediterranean sun. And I was not turned down when I finally got the chance to visit Istanbul this summer, from the backyard pavilion of Topkapi Palace, the bridge that connects Asia and Europe can be seen at distance across the narrow passage while the sea of Marmara extends beyond sight. The mind is set free, immerging in the nostlagia for the past glories of Byzantium and Osman, sometimes wondering at the fact how great many ancient civilizations had ever originated in this magical land of Anatolia and after sometime, those who created the civilizations perished, leaving only deserted ruins and relics behind. Indeed, to some extent, the land which is occupied by the Republic of Turkey today can be regarded as the site where Western civilization originated.
However, the people who occupied this piece of land come and go: first the Greek, then came the Romans; on the Eastern side were the Armenians and the Kurds. Centuries later came the normads: the Mongols swept Asia Minor like a tornado but retreated soon and left no trace; while the Turks settled down to build a new Empire which would last half a millennium and changed the course of European development remarkably. On lands occupied by the Turks, Christian churches were pulled down or transformed into mosques, Christian boys were converted into Muslims and were later impressed into the Empire army as Janissaries, Christian girls enslaved and sold to become concubines in the Harem. Such was the case for the Caucasian and Balkan regions, however, for Western Europeans, the aggressiveness of the Ottoman Empire exerted considerable pressure upon them and this very pressure later became their motivation to lead explorations, refine techniques and reform political systems. The envoy from Holy Roman Empire Ogiers Busbecq explicitly expressed his concerns that Europe would be wholly conquered by the Ottoman Empire someday, however, what happened in the next two centuries displayed an almost opposite scenario.
Turkey was obliged to take reform measures under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the republic established. In my opinion, what became best of this country is its success of showing the world that it is possible to seperate politics and religion in a predominant Muslim country, thus challenging such urges that Islam being a backward religion incompatible with modern society. However, what remains to be the largest problem of Turkey, is its pretentious ideology of 'pan-Turkism', which not only impedes the Republic from recogizing the Armenian genocide as well as the rights of the Kurdish minority, but also leads this country to go at odds with China on the Muslim Uighur issue in Xinjiang.
没有评论:
发表评论