Fact is a Four-letter Word in Turkey

By Jirair Tutunjian

Turkey has always had an uncomfortable relation with facts, especially when they pertain to their identity, history and culture. It follows that when Turkey doesn’t like a fact, it changes the words—the basic unit of communication to fit its preferred iteration. Thus, words are Silly-Putty, Play-Doh, and Crayola to Turks who run the country, including their mercenary “historians.”

Consider Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s order to erase ARMENIA from the map and replace it with KURDISTAN. Consider that Ararat has become Aghri Dagh. Consider that there are no Kurds: Kurds are Mountain Turks. Which mountain? Does it matter? Consider the Hagia Sophia Cathedral’s reincarnation as a mosque. Consider how Istanbul’s numerous large mosques are hailed as examples of Turkish architecture when it’s apparent that many are mini Hagia Sophias with obtrusive minarets. (Minarets originated in the Roman Empire where government declaration were read from a high spot.) The few original Istanbul mosques were built by Armenian Sinan, the court architect who was responsible for the design of more than 300 buildings…mosques, baths, garden, forts, city walls, bridges…

Since Tsar Nicholas I’s description of Turkey as “the Sick man of Europe” nearly two centuries ago, Turks have been exerting themselves madly to change their image. That Sisyphusian climb continues. The most recent example of it is Turkish Education Ministry’s (TEM) revised dictionary for textbooks.

Here are examples of what TEM is up to this year.

“Crusades” will be replaced by “Crusader Attack.” That is, the Crusaders were Christian invaders of Muslim Middle East. The fact that the Crusades were Europe’s response to the mistreatment of Middle East Christians by Muslims, often Turks, is neither here nor there. The Christians of the Middle East begged the Pope for help. Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land were also often robbed and killed in the countryside. Thus, the Europeans formed the Hospitalar and Templar orders to defend Christians and tend to their wounds (Hospitalers.)

Central Asia (“Orta Asya”) becomes Turkistan. How about the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, etc.? Are they also the progeny of the Grey Wolf?

Age of Discovery becomes Colonial Policy: a clumsy and meaningless phrase. Of course, the Turkish language experts are ignoring certain details: Several years ago, their dictator-for-life Recep Erdogan claimed Columbus had sighted a minaret in northern Cuba; they also forgot the Ottoman Empire was a colonial empire as ruthless as the Conquistadores and that as late as the early 19th century, Barbary pirates preyed upon Christian travelers and often sent captured Christian women to their master in Topkapi harim. These Turkish fabulists forget that the Turks were a colonial entity who left the deserts of Central Asia and preyed on the Middle East and Eastern Europe. They dominated the Eastern Mediterranean and twice lay siege to Vienna, hoping to conquer all of Europe.

Byzantium bites the dust and becomes Eastern Rome. That the language and culture of Byzantium was Greek and that nearly forty emperors were Armenian and that the brightest eras of Byzantium were when Armenian emperors ruled.

There is also a new map of Erdogan’s realm which include 150 Greek islands.

The Genocide of Armenians changes from “Relocation Law” to “Resettlement Law.” The ignorant world was unaware of the kindness and generosity of the Turks who moved Armenians from the theatres of war for their protection into safe grounds. One-million and five-hundred thousand Armenians were moved with superb efficiency, via the sumptuous Berlin-Baghdad Railway trains, to the lush pastures of the Syrian Desert. They were settled in three-bedroom villas, given fields to cultivate, and provided fully-equipped shops. The government even donated money to build churches and schools. Unfortunately, many ingrate and Turk-hating Armenians refused these commodious accommodations and preferred to wander in the desert without food or water, prey to bandits and wild animals. Go figure Ermenler.