By
Dr. Christos Evangeliou
Professor of Philosophy
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This I found to be an intersting History/Opinion article dealing with Turkey's possible future if she were to grant Orthodox Christianity and the Ecumenical Patriarch the respect and role he feels should be granted for the reasons he cites.
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Turkey as a nation is proud of its long history and rightly so. The
glorious path of this history, as taught in its schools, took the nomad Turks
out of the steppes of central Asia and spread them in all directions. Especially
in the South and the West, they were able to establish themselves as the rulers
over other and older nations such as the Persians, the Arabs and the Byzantine
Greeks. It is not surprising then that even today Western authors who wish to
ingratiate themselves with the Turkish ruling elite (and the powerful military
that supports it) publish books with such flattering titles as Sons of the
Conquerors. Certainly, it would not be fair to belittle the manliness and the
military prowess, which are naturally bred by the Asiatic steppe or the Arabic
desert. On the other hand, no one should underestimate the fanatical zeal the
religion of Islam can, and historically has inspired the holy warriors to spread
their faith to the infidels, to fight them to submission, enslave them in the
name of Allah and rule over them for centuries. But, in the case of the Turkish
conquest, as well as in the case of the Arabic rapid expansion, goddess tyche or
luck was certainly a factor in their military successes.
By the time when Prophet Mohammed preached his message to the faithful
Arabs in Mecca and Medina and his successors were ready to spread it to the
infidels by the force of neophyte zeal (7th century), the Persians and the
Byzantine Greeks had exhausted themselves by constant fighting that went on for
many centuries. Besides, the endless Byzantine controversies regarding the shape
of the Christological dogma had alienated the Christian populations of the
Middle East, Egypt, and North Africa.
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