While it has become somewhat of an outdated statement to attract tourists, the quote, “Turkey is the bridge between East and West”, stands as a constant symbolism for the belief that Turkey is not necessarily East, nor is it West. A significant factor in this sentiment, at least in the way I have interpreted the knowledge I have gained about the historical and modern characteristics of the country, is that Turkey’s prevalent reintegration of time-tested beliefs and cultural practices has challenged people’s opinions on the identity of the relatively new country. Specifically, the emergence of a renewed effort to embrace Islam as a majority Muslim country has become a norm in the AK party dominated Turkish society. For Turkey, religion is a hallmark in the development and controversy behind the country, from a dominant Ottoman empire that was ruled by religious caliphates headed by the sultan, to the Kemalist reform times during Ataturk’s era, a checkered history of varying religious affiliation has characterized Turkey.

In the classical reign of the Ottoman empire over portions of three continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa), the leadership was characterized by a highly religious caliphate that was typically the sultan of the empire. The culture reflected a devotion to the Islamic faith, where the very journey to Mecca was a sort of end-of-life commitment that signaled the last time a person would see their family. Furthermore, much of the attire and public practices of women were strictly dictated by the tenants of Islam, which were visible through the conservative dress and politeness of pious Muslim women during the Ottoman empire. Furthermore, the intimacy of a partner could only be expressed within the Harem, a word that has been astoundingly twisted to mean a sort of over-sexualized party of women meant to satisfy every whim of the sultan. Instead, it simply is meant to denote the private section of the home where the sultan, or head of the house, is isolated from the outside world and can be most intimate and “real” with their partner or family. However, after Ataturk took control of the newly formed Turkey, the country transitioned to a brief period of intense focus on secularism and somewhat a suppression of the Islamic identity of the country. During this time, the population experienced a major transition to a “Western” style of life, where the language departed from the Arabic (language of the Quran) and Persian influenced language to a more Latin-focused system. Furthermore, women were forced to denounce their public commitments to Islam and had to take off all Hijabs and traditional Islamic headwear to fit into a developing Turkish nation. The culture of Turkey, at a unique state where not every person believed and supported the recent Kemalist programs, was experiencing a fusion of suppressed dissent and fervent support, which created great tension in daily life. However, after the AK party took control in 2002, Turkey began moving back toward a country that embraces its Islamic roots, which hearken back to the days of the Ottoman empire. Even though the majority (~98 %) of Turkey is Muslim, the recent renewal of a seemingly Islamic state has brought with it increased confusion of the Turkish identity, which has been accompanied with disapproval of those that idolize Ataturk and his secularist reforms. It remains a question to how much religious influence the AK party will return to the country, and where the direction of the country will be in the future.

As for what I have learned through the process of becoming exposed to the history and defining characteristics of Islam, I can confidently say that I have learned a great deal. Although my Turkish family is Muslim on paper, we are among the population that still live in Turkey that were named Muslim at birth but do not heavily practice or follow the Pillars of Islam. Speaking of the Pillars of Islam, I was unaware of the specific pillars before our lecture material about Islam in my Turkish 2241 class, and I was surprised to see that there are two categories with five pillars in each. There are the five Pillars of Faith (A singular God [Allah], a sequence of prophets, a series of revelations, a host of angels, and resurrection, judgment, Heaven & Hell) and five Pillars of Practice (Testimony of Faith (Shahada), Prayer (Salat), Almsgiving (Zakah), Fasting (Sawm), Ramadan, The Greater Pilgrimage (hajj), and Jihad). Furthermore, even though I had heard that Jihad is not exactly as described by Western media, it was illuminating to hear that in addition to fighting for Islam (which media has twisted to terrorism), Jihad also means fighting your inner demons. While prayer was not a surprise to me, it was interesting to learn that there is qibla, the direction in which pious Muslims pray, which is the direction of Mecca. To ensure that the correct form of prayer is followed, there are areas in the home and mosques where specific markers are built in to inform the practicing Muslim of the direction they should pray, such as the Mihrab (niche in a wall that demonstrate qibla). During further reading, it was exciting to expand my knowledge on the variation in the forms of prayer as well as the contemporary issues in modern Islam. For example, it peaked my interest that dating, instead of following family enforced partners and marriage, is a relatively new occurrence to those that are pious Muslims (especially women).

To conclude, I will briefly recall one of my few experiences with religion, specifically Islam, that was significant enough to remember. While I was in middle school, my family visited Turkey to visit our family (on both my mother’s and father’s side), and I was surprised to be woken up by loud religious prayer music during the morning. Since my experience with religion prior to that day was in the religiously free culture of the United States, it was strange to hear the entire town engrossed in prayer by direction of the communication system. Having studied a little about Islam, the prayer does not seem out of the ordinary in any way, instead it is a religious norm upheld by devoted Muslims, and should be expected in many rural and urban settings where the practice of religion is extremely commonplace. To this day, among many other reasons, I would like to revisit Turkey to gain a much less ignorant perspective of the various aspects of Turkish life, one of them being Islam, that I can re-explore as an educated adult that won’t have the adolescent-minded naivety to unfairly question things around me that are not familiar.

The minute that I signed into the free trial for the beginner Turkish language assigned by my Turkish Culture class, I was immediately met with words and phrases that I have encountered through listening to conversations between every member of my family except my brother and I. Since both of my parents are Turkish, and similarly their parents, siblings, and step-siblings, there is a concerted effort to stay true to their native language and continue speaking Turkish. However, after moving to the United States, my brother and I were thrown into a vigorous teaching regimen, almost indoctrination, of the English language, one that was enforced so strictly that our constantly required speaking and writing practice forged a path away from our initial language understandings. For my brother, who was 4 when we moved, did not have to undergo a revolutionary change, as his grasp of any language other than babbles was still rudimentary. On the other hand, I had already begun taking intermediate level grammar courses in Hungarian, as I was born in Hungary, and was speaking extremely basic Turkish with my grandparent, aunts, and uncle. Nevertheless, my family stays in close contact to this day, where we actually have scheduled Skype calls with almost every weekend to stay in touch and allow our grandparents to see their grandchildren’s’ faces. While I can’t understand most of the conversations that are had, there is an intrinsic value of interacting with the language that has a rich history in Turkey, and I am happy to notice that less than half of the content in the free trial of the Turkish course was absolutely new material that I had not heard in my family’s conversations in the past. Furthermore, the pronoun for “I” and “You” (“Ben” and “Sen”), as well as “nasılsın” (“how are you?”) are some of the basic words and phrases that my brother and I are able to speak and understand without translation from our parents.

My unique perspective on the Turkish language, as an individual with native speakers in my proximal and distant family, has allowed me to look at the language as more of an entity with a decorated history, rather than as an intrinsic part of my life. This has allowed me to realized, and affirm through the historical readings and lectures we have had in Turkish 2241, that there is a cultural impact that the Turkish language holds in the hearts of all Turkish citizens. Before continuing, it is important to distinctly recognize that many, if not all, languages have some level of cultural influence in the way people define themselves and their population, and at this point, I am communicating my perspective of just one of those many languages, Turkish. As for Turkey, the language has a deep-seeded role in both the characterization of a people, as well as a marker for a complex nationalist movement in the early 1900s. After WWI, in an effort to consolidate area in the face of the dominating Allies that wanted to claim land, Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne that, among other stipulations, required that Turkey and Greece uproot around two million people in a massive population exchanged. The signifiance of this event could be felt after the move was made, as the increasingly nationalist country of Turkey was beginning to realize that they needed certain criteria to determine what makes a Turkish person. It eventually came down to the religion you followed and the language you spoke, which became contested in cases where a Muslim individual only spoke Greek and vice versa. At this point, language became a crucial factor of deciding the nationality of an individual, and Turkish virtually served as a passport for people that wanted to identify themselves as a Turkish citizen. Not only did Turkish exist as this pseudo-credential for the nationality of an individual, but it marked one of the earlier changes implemented by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to modernize the country of Turkey. Instead of drowning in loathing and ideas of revenge towards those that won WWI, he realized that the Allied countries represented a standard of technological and societal superiority that had to be matched to be a strong nation. Consequently, Ataturk (“The Father of the Turks”) started a revolutionary program of reforms that changed or had an impact on every societal, cultural, governmental, educational, or globally polital aspect within the increasingly solidifying lines of Turkey. One of the major reforms, seemingly overnight, was the revolutionary rework of the Turkish language, both written and spoken, where Islamic and Persian influences were scrapped, and a Latin-based system of Turkish was established and pushed throughout the country. While the reforms were not the most popular at the time, the changes set a precedence for the future identity of Turkey, and allowed for the development of a unity and national pride among Turkish citizens that survives to this day. For example, the architectural idolization and ideals of Ataturk (titled “Kemalism”) have survived to this day, as people, almost obsessively in some cases, recall the history of Ataturk and are trying to keep his belief in the modernization and secularism of Turkey alive.

Finally, while there is no language that I can speak fluently beside English, I have had the opportunity to dive into many experiences and cultures throughout my life from which I have picked up some of their respective vernaculars. Specifically, my integration into the world of Tennis at the start of High School, which I play to this day, has accompanied with it some terms that would not make sense to someone outside the tennis culture. For instance, if I told a beginner to never stand in No Man’s Land, they would look at me like I was crazy and that I was talking about some deserted island. However, it is actually a specific area of the court near the baseline where a player would be found with essentially no options of attack or defense, and find themselves in a place no person should be, hence the name. Another example is that of “trying to be Hulk”, which may be specific to my school team as a result of our coach reprimanding us with the line countless times. When our coach says the line, he is telling us that we are trying too hard to be aggressive and are simply uncontrollably hitting the ball as hard as we can, which fits the vehement anger of the Marvel character Hulk. Small phrases and words such as these are common in many subsets of life, and serve to make those that know the secret behind the words feel a part of a community that others do not have access too without the necessary knowledge and experience. Similarly, the development of a unique national language facilitated the efforts of Nationalism by Ataturk, and forged the way for a modern Turkey.

During my previous week in Turkish 2241, I had the opportunity to read an excerpt from Edward Said’s Orientalism, and watch the third part of a PBS documentary titled, “Islam Empire of Faith”. Having absorbed the information from both the reading and the film, I was delighted to challenge my assortment of historical knowledge that has developed over my academic career, and to further analyze stereotypes that characterize the globally prevailing West vs. East conversation.

To first understand some of the contextual reasoning behind the development of a strong West vs. East divide, it is important to discuss some of the content presented in the PBS documentary. The very early growth of the Turkish empire, a modern-day derivative of the Ottoman empire, was strongly characterized by invasion, pillaging, and conquer. There was a strong emphasis of breeding warriors that could help to expand upon the steadily growing land that the Ottomans had control over, which was to the detriment of all of Europe, as it was the primary direction in which many Turkish sultans aimed their pathway for domination. This early targeting of many modern Middle Eastern countries posed no immediate threat to Europe as a whole, militarily or culturally, however, the sentiment quickly changed when Mehmed the Conqueror set his sights on Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). Although the siege lasted months, the eventual victory by the Ottomans signaled a massive shift in power dynamics of the continent, as Constantinople was a major religious and cultural treasure of Europe at the time. For instance, the Hagia Sophia, which was previously the under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Christian church, became an imperial Ottoman mosque. The significance of this change in ownership can be attributed to the fact that the Hagia Sophia was, at the time, the largest cathedral in the world, and as such, held a coveted spot in the religious hearts of all of Europe. Its conversion to a mosque signified a dramatic change in outlook of the European people toward the foreign Ottomans, who now rampaged all the way from Asia into their sacred city of Constantinople and took one of their most prized possessions. From this point, an agenda was established against those who came from the East, one that penetrated so deep into the levels of European society that eventually, as can be observed today, there were many prejudices and stereotypes that prevailed unconsciously in the minds of most people. An unfortunate propagation of these negative sentiments towards those that hail from Islam, the Muslim culture, and Turks, which were all intertwined to encompass one archetype that ignored the individuality of each group of people, was the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. While widely considered one of the greatest sultans of Ottoman history, his powerful reign witnessed the emergence of a double-edged sword for the people of the Ottoman empire, and it was the embracing of the arts and cultural commingling between Turks and Europeans. The massive expansion of architecture and artistic expression during the era of Suleiman was immense, as his art patronage invited creatives from around the world, especially Europe, to come tickle his fancy and impress him enough to be licensed for projects. Specifically, the modern-day city of Istanbul witnessed an artistic revolution unbeknownst to the world beforehand, as the riches of the Ottoman empire at its peak created almost limitless room for creativity and splendor to be formed throughout the city. Unfortunately, this became a time of Ottoman amazement and dependence on European excellence, and a time for Europeans to make hasty first impressions from their temporary experiences in a totally different environment. This led to the development of a new form of Oriental art that seemed to belittle and poke at the customs of the Ottoman culture, as well its people. Men and women were portrayed by the same tropes and stereotypes, and many cultural oddities were accentuated to seem even more strange, sensual, improper, or unfitting of “civilized” European society.

Briefly alluded to in the conclusion of the previous discussion, the progression of a European culture with a superiority complex toward Turks, and many Middle-Eastern and Asian ideologies, peoples, and cultures, became known as the phenomenon called “Orientalism”. Under this supposed understanding of a people, as Edward Said eloquently verbalized, there is no consideration of the rich historical and cultural complexity of an entire people, but instead, there is a focus on easily recognizable mannerisms, features, cultural practices, and general lifestyle characteristics that may not necessarily be accurate but portray people of the “East” as lesser or uncommon in some way. The misfortune that arises from this ideology, which is especially true today, is that there is very rarely a case where the positive differences of Middle-Eastern or Asian culture are highlighted or made prominent. For example, many modern films and TV-shows, which reach a broad global audience, generally portray the “bad-guys” as Muslim or Islamic radicals/terrorists, or some people that originate from the Middle-East, Asia, or portions of Africa. Furthermore, these people are always displayed as inept criminals, that always make some mistake that the hero takes advantage of and embarrasses the foes. While it can be argued that there is some truth to the character traits of the enemies, as they are meant to embody modern day terrorist cells and enemies of the “free world”, the constant generalization that ALL Muslims, or all people that follow Islam, or all Turkish people (who have been mixed into the same group as the previous two), are bad is unfair to the intricate and beautiful aspects of these cultures. As such, I believe it is regressive for modern global society to allow for the cultural divide that the East/West argument propagates, and instead of considering Turkey technically being in the East or a certain line where the West or East begins, we should begin to alleviate the misplaced distrust and stereotyping of regions of the world. Accordingly, I believe it is the responsibility of our generation, and those that come after, to challenge the harmful stereotypes that exist in the world, and to begin spreading awareness of the beauty of different peoples, places, and cultures.