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In 1296, Osman declared himself the independent
Sultan of the region of Sögüt he had hitherto
held in fief, and founded the Ottoman State. During
the rule of his son Orhan, Bursa and Iznik were
captured and soon the whole south-eastern coast
of Marmara was under Ottoman control. The many
conquests and diplomatic successes of Orhan were
not the only achievements of his reign. He had
encouraged and promoted art, literature, science
and commerce. He also established a regular standing
army, known as the Janissaries. Well paid and
disciplined, the Janissaries provided the new
Ottoman state with a patriotic force of trained
soldiers. Built upon such solid foundations, the
Ottoman Empire spread apace. In the reign of Murat,
this expansion was still in a westerly direction
and it was not until the frontiers were extended
to the Adriatic, the Danube and Thessaly, that
the Sultan turned his attention towards Eastern
Anatolia. Now that his rule was established in
Europe and Asia, Beyazit turned towards Constantinople
in 1402. The city was almost within his grasp
when he was called to meet the westward march
of Timurlane which delayed the conquest of Istanbul
for several decades. In 1453, under Mehmet the
Conqueror, the Ottomans took Constantinople, a
momentous event for the whole world and a great
feat of arms. But the banner of Ottoman success
was to be raised much higher and by the late 16th
century the Ottomans were deep into Europe. In
the following centuries, however, the Ottoman
empire lost its momentum, entered a period of
stagnation and then gradually a period of decline.
WORLD WAR ONE
The final blow to the Empire came with the First
World War, during which Turkey was on the losing
side with Germany. Great Britain had reversed
the policy she followed until then, and undertook
with France, Russia and Italy to dismember the
Empire. At the end of the war in 1918, the Ottoman
government, under the occupation of the allied
forces, was in no position to resist a peace treaty
embodying the partition of Turkey. In May 1919,
the Greeks, who had been promised a part of Anatolia,
landed at Izmir and started an offensive to occupy
Western Turkey.
THE VISIONS OF ATATÜRK
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Against this challenge, the Turkish nation engaged
in a struggle to restore her territorial integrity
and independence, to repulse foreign aggressors,
to create a new state, to disassociate Turkey
from the crumbling Ottoman dynasty, to eradicate
an old decrepit order and to build a modern Turkey
dedicated to political, social and economic progress.
This was the vision of Atatürk, a general in the
Ottoman army who had distinguished himself in
the defense of the Dardanelles. Atatürk wanted
a clean break with the past, to unite the nation
in the quest for modernism and to lift Turkey
to the level of European countries. On October
29, 1923, the republic was proclaimed and Atatürk
was elected president. Secularism was established
by separating religious and state affairs. The
Latin alphabet replaced the Arabic script and
women were given the right to vote and to be elected
as members of parliament. These reforms, as well
as many others in all aspects of social life,
put Turkey on the track towards becoming a thoroughly
modern country.
A PROUD NATION
When Atatürk died in 1938, he left a legacy of
which the Turkish people today are proud. This
is now a nation that has regained confidence in
itself and is ready to confront challenges; a
society determined to preserve the political,
intellectual, cultural and social values he had
bequeathed. The Turkish republic has now been
a member of the international community for over
70 years. During this period, great changes have
occurred. But the country remains firmly attached
to the policies initiated by Atatürk. It has established
a democratic multi-party political system, developed
a vibrant civil society, and embarked on the path
of industrialization and market economy. It has
consolidated its ties with the west through membership
of NATO and the Council of Europe and Customs
Union with the European Union. These trends mark
radical change from the days of the Ottoman Empire.
Yet there is also continuity. The Turks have inherited
both from the Islamic past ant their Ottoman past.
They have also inherited from their western past,
as well as forming a part of the Western present.
All these heritages, Eastern and Western, Asian
and European, are intermingled in the civilization
of modern Turkey. A symbol of this union is the
two bridges that span the Bosphorus, linking the
two continents with as many parts and one future.
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