Turkey: A Land for Pioneers
The following is a guidebook for Turkey printed by the US army in 1943 and later issued to US diplomats travelling to the country. It offers a solid introduction to Turkish food, and in addition to recommending hotels and restaurants that no longer exist, as well as some good day trips that do, it has a lengthy historical background on modern Turkey. The pamphlet’s history is clearly influenced by the Kemalist narrative, both in its celebration of the man himself and in its emphasis on the role of strong Sultans in explaining the Ottomans’ early success. In some cases the judgements seem shocking – describing the 1938 Dersim massacre, for example, by saying that “the Turkish army went in and taught the trouble-makers a lesson.” In other cases, though, the author’s perspective is revealing. In the Middle of world war II, Ataturk certainly must have seemed like “a strong man of the right sort,” that is one without the aggressive instincts of Europe’s fascists. Ataturk’s birth date is given as 1880 instead of 1881, something I assumed to be an error until a helpful commentor provided the full story [see first comment]. Finally, and perhaps most strikingly, the treatment of Islam and Turkish culture takes a candid, non-judgmental approach that has been all-too-rare over the past century.
1880 is not an inaccurate date, It is, indeed, as accurate as 1881. Follow Cemil Kocak's lines, please:
ReplyDeleteKaç kez yazılacak çizilecek bilemiyorum artık, Mustafa Kemal’in 19 Mayıs olarak belirtilen doğum günü gerçek doğum günü değildir; kendisinin sembolik önemi olduğunu düşündüğü ve kendisine uygun gördüğü tarihtir. 1881 de yanlıştır; gerçek doğum yılının 1880 mi, 1881 mi olduğunu muhtemelen hiçbir zaman bilemeyeceğiz. Bir zamanlar 1880 olarak ders kitaplarına ve pullara bile geçmişti. Sonra 1881 daha uygun görülmüş olmalı. Biri araştırsa keşke, bu geçiş tam olarak ne zamana denk gelmiş diye.
That was an incredibly interesting read. Thank you for sharing it. Whomever wrote this knew the Turks well.
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