The majority of those who carried these placards were Turkish and Muslim. By stressing that “we all are Armenian,” they demonstrated their opposition to and disagreement with discrimination and violence.Some got upset with the expression “We all are Armenian.” They wanted alternate placards reading “We all are Turks!” However, the message was pretty clear: If a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent is killed because of his opinions, we do not approve of this and take the side of freedoms and liberties. I can assure you, as an individual who attended the funeral: That day, the crowd did not deny their Turkish identity, but they reacted to the commission of violence in the name of the Turkish identity. In fact, this was a manifestation of the Turkish nation’s desire and willingness for a multinational lifestyle. Maybe for this reason, Turks and Armenians walked hand-to-hand in Paris for the first time. The message was received.
As this debate on the placards was still on, historian and writer Mustafa Armağan penned an interesting article, “We are all Ottomans,” published in Zaman daily. Armağan starts with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. First, he describes him as a Kemalist who “distances himself from the Ottoman Empire” and then brings up the present Sezer gave Pope Benedict XVI. Sezer gifted him the decree of tolerance the Ottoman Sultan Fatih had given to the Catholic Genovese. The decree is a manifesto of religious freedom. And it was declared five centuries ago.
Citing a few more examples, Armağan concludes that Ottoman tolerance towards non-Muslims was not merely national wisdom but also a lifestyle stipulated under Islamic precepts. He is quite right. Islam prohibits racism. Qur’an verses as well as the Prophet’s practices demonstrate that in the predominantly Muslim countries, Christians and Jews were called dhimmi and were entitled to special rights guaranteed by the state. For instance, when the Prophet Muhammad arrived in Medina, the city’s population was 10,000, and only one-fifth was Muslim. The Prophet Muhammad prepared a legal document that facilitated coexistence with non-Muslim elements. This was a clear and detailed reflection of the tolerance embedded in the spirit of the Qur’an.
With its different nations and religions, the Ottoman Empire was of a very diverse character. The turmoil through the end of the empire was not peculiar to the Ottomans. The entire world was sliding through the nation-state model in replacement of kingdoms and other forms of monarchy. The nationalist movements that surfaced after the French Revolution were pushing multinational empires to the edge. Before this popular current, Ottoman soil, including Istanbul, enjoyed a tradition based on the recognition of diverse nationalities, ethnicities and religious identities. In almost every Ottoman city, mosques were accompanied by churches and synagogues. Adherents to different religions were neighbors who lived together in peace and mutual respect.
From a cultural perspective, the most suitable identity for the Turkish nation seems to be the Ottoman identity. The ancestors of the majority of those who live in Turkey today once migrated from Ottoman territories to Anatolia. There are many Turks whose ancestors had to stay abroad because of war. The cultural subconscious is consistent with the pluralistic social model, and this predominantly Muslim nation views this lifestyle as a religious requirement as well.
In today’s Turkey, there is no single answer to the question of who we are. The pluralistic structure inherited by the empire provides multiple identities to the peoples in Anatolia. For this reason, those who underline that we all are Armenian, that we all are Turk and that we all are Ottoman voice only the partial truth. It is possible that the inhabitants of this country multiply these examples. In the end, all proposals will point to one undeniable truth: that we all are human beings who want to live a humane life and share life freely. When respect for human beings ends, parts of the pluralistic culture transform into small islets; then fanatics emerge in every islet and conflicts break out. However, all should respect different identities and make this world more livable.
