Turkey and Turkish Culture

MOSQUES

The oldest mosque within the borders of Turkey is the Ulu Cami (Great Mosque) of Diyarbakir, dating back to the seventh century with several later restorations. Other early great mosques are in Urfa, Cizre, Silvan, Mardin, Kiziltepe, Bitlis, Harput, Niksar, and Kayseri. Probably the most important Seljuk work is the Old Mosque in Konya, dating back to 1155. For several centuries, the Seljuk mosques were of the basilica type with the Great Mosque of Divrigi providing a superb example. The style then transitioned from square volume to circular ones like a dome, squinches or bands of triangles. Later Ottoman Turks introduced more sweeping innovations but also used elements traditionally used in Asia, such as the squinch, more frequently than everybody else. Two important innovations to the development of Ottoman architecture from this period are kulliye (the social/religious complex) planned around the mosque and the adoption of half-dome as a major structural element for building Great Mosques. Both concepts were introduced by the complex of Fatih in Istanbul, between 1462 and 1470. The complex of Fatih consisted of a mosque, sixteen madrasahs (Koran schools), a library, a hospital (Dar us Sifa), a hostel, a public kitchen (imaret), a caravan saray, and the mausolea of Fatih Mehmet and his wife. His son Beyazit II continued in this tradition and built three complexes (Istanbul, Edirne, and Amasya). The biggest one in Edirne, built in 1484-1488, contained a mosque, two hospices, a large public kitchen, a dining hall, bakery, storehouse for food, a medical school, a hospital, a mental asylum, among other facilities.

Even a more grand and magnificent example of Ottoman architecture was yet to come however. The Suleymaniye, in Istanbul, designed and built by Architect Sinan (Koca Mimar Sinan) in only seven years starting in 1550, is the biggest and most complex masterpiece of its type. Sinan dominated his century with several hundreds of large and impressive masterpieces such as Selimiye Mosque in Edirne with its massive 31.5m diameter dome.

Reference: E. Akurgal. The Art and Architecture of Turks, Rizzoli International Publications, NY, 1980.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TURKIC LANGUAGES

The Turkic languages are spoken over a large geographical area in Europe and Asia. It is spoken in the Azeri, the Türkmen, the Tartar, the Uzbek, the Baskurti, the Nogay, the Kyrgyz, the Kazakh, the Yakuti, the Cuvas and other dialects. Turkish belongs to the Altaic branch of the Ural-Altaic family of languages, and thus is closely related to Mongolian, Manchu-Tungus, Korean, and perhaps Japanese. Some scholars have maintained that these resemblances are not fundamental, but rather the result of borrowings, however comparative Altaistic studies in recent years demonstrate that the languages we have listed all go back to a common Ur-Altaic.

Turkish is a very ancient language going back 5500 to 8500 years. It has a phonetic, morphological and syntactic structure, and at the same time it possesses a rich vocabulary. The fundamental features, which distinguish the Ural-Altaic languages from the Indo-European, are as follows:

1. Vowel harmony, a feature of all Ural-Altaic tongues.
2. The absence of gender.
3. Agglutination.
4. Adjectives precede nouns.
5. Verbs come at the end of the sentence.

Written Turkish

The oldest written records are found upon stone monuments in Central Asia, in the Orhon, Yenisey and Talas regions within the boundaries of present-day Mongolia. These were erected to Bilge Kaghan (735), Kültigin (732), and the vizier Tonyukuk (724-726). These monuments document the social and political life of the Gokturk Dynasty.

After the waning of the Gokturk state, the Uighurs produced many written texts that are among the most important source works for the Turkish language. The Uighurs abandoned shamanism (the original Turkish religion) in favor of Buddhism, Manichaeanism and Brahmanism, and translated the pious and philosophical works into Turkish. Examples are Altun Yaruk, Mautrisimit, Sekiz Yükmek, Huastunift. These are collected in Turkische Turfan-Texte. The Gokturk inscriptions, together with Uighur writings, are in a language called by scholars Old Turkish. This term refers to the Turkish spoken, prior to the conversion to Islam, on the steppes of Mongolia and Tarim basin.

A sample of Gokturk Inscriptions, commissioned by Gokturk Khans. One of several in Mongolia, near river Orkhun, dated 732-735. Example statement (from Bilge Khan): "He (Sky God or "Gok Tanri") is the one who sat me on the throne so that the name of the Turkish Nation would live forever."

The Turkish that developed in Anatolia and Balkans in the times of the Seljuk’s and Ottomans is documented in several literary works prior to the 13th century. The men of letters of the time were, notably, Sultan Veled, the son of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, Ahmed Fakih, Seyyad Hamza, Yunus Emre, a prominent thinker of the time, and the famed poet, Gulsehri. This Turkish has a dialect which falls into the southwestern dialects of the Western Turkish language family and also into the dialects of the Oguz Türkmen language group. When the Turkish spoken in Turkey is considered in a historical context, it can be classified according to three distinct periods:

1. Old Anatolian Turkish (old Ottoman - between the 13th and the 15th centuries)
2. Ottoman Turkish (from the 16th to the 19th century)
3. 20th century Turkish

The Turkish Language up to the 16th Century With the spread of Islam among the Turks from the 10th century onward, the Turkish language came under heavy influence of Arabic and Persian cultures. The "Divanü-Lügati't-Türk" (1072), the dictionary edited by Kasgarli Mahmut to assist Arabs to learn Turkish, was written in Arabic. In the following century, Edip Ahmet Mahmut Yükneri wrote his book "Atabetü'l-Hakayik", in Eastern Turkish, but the title was in Arabic. All these are indications of the strong influence of the new religion and culture on the Turks and the Turkish language. In spite of the heavy influence of Islam, in texts written in Anatolian Turkish the number of words of foreign origin is minimal. The most important reason for this is that during the period mentioned, effective measures were taken to minimize the influence of other cultures. For example, during the Karahanlilar period there was significant resistance of Turkish against the Arabic and Persian languages. The first masterpiece of the Muslim Turks, "Kutadgu Bilig" by Yusuf Has Hacib, was written in Turkish in 1069. Ali Nevai of the Çagatay Turks defended the superiority of Turkish from various points of view vis-à-vis Persian in his book "Muhakemetül-Lugatein", written in 1498.

During the time of the Anatolian Seljuk’s and Karamanogullari, efforts were made resulting in the acceptance of Turkish as the official language and in the publication of a Turkish dictionary, "Divini Turki", by Sultan Veled (1277). Ahmet Fakih, Seyyat Hamza and Yunus Emre adopted the same attitude in their use of ancient Anatolian Turkish, which was in use till 1299. Moreover, after the emergence of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Orhan promulgated the first official document of the State, the "Mülkname", in Turkish. In the 14th century, Ahmedi and Kaygusuz Abdal, in the 15th century Süleyman Çelebi and Haci Bayram and in the 16th century Sultan Abdal and Köroglu were the leading poets of their time, pioneering the literary use of Turkish. In 1530, Kadri Efendi of Bergama published the first study of Turkish grammar, "Müyessiretül-Ulum".

The outstanding characteristic in the evolution of the written language during these periods was that terminology of foreign origin was accompanied with the indigenous. Furthermore, during the 14th and 15th centuries translations were made particularly in the fields of medicine, botany, astronomy, mathematics and Islamic studies, which promoted the introduction of a great number of scientific terms of foreign origin into written Turkish, either in their authentic form or with Turkish transcriptions. Scientific treatises made use of both written and vernacular Turkish, but the scientific terms were generally of foreign origin, particularly Arabic.

The Evolution of Turkish since the 16th Century

The mixing of Turkish with foreign words in poetry and science did not last forever. Particularly after the 16th century foreign terms dominated written texts, in fact, some Turkish words disappeared altogether from the written language. In the field of literature, a great passion for creating art work of high quality persuaded the ruling elite to attribute higher value to literary works containing a high proportion of Arabic and Persian vocabulary, which resulted in the domination of foreign elements over Turkish. This development was at its extreme in the literary works originating in the Ottoman court. This trend of royal literature eventually had its impact on folk literature, and folk poets also used numerous foreign words and phrases. The extensive use of Arabic and Persian in science and literature not only influenced the spoken language in the palace and its surroundings, but as time went by, it also persuaded the Ottoman intelligentsia to adopt and utilize a form of palace language heavily reliant on foreign elements. As a result, there came into being two different types of language. One in which foreign elements dominated, and the second was the spoken Turkish used by the public.

From the 16th to the middle of the 19th century, the Turkish used in science and literature was supplemented and enriched by the inclusion of foreign items under the influence of foreign cultures. However, since there was no systematic effort to limit the inclusion of foreign words in the language, too many began to appear. In the mid-19th century, Ottoman Reformation (Tanzimat) enabled a new understanding and approach to linguistic issues to emerge, as in many other matters of social nature. The Turkish community, which had been under the influence of Eastern culture, was exposed to the cultural environment of the West. As a result, ideological developments such as the outcome of reformation and nationalism in the West, began to influence the Turkish community, and thus important changes came into being in the cultural and ideological life of the country.

The most significant characteristic with respect to the Turkish language was the tendency to eliminate foreign vocabulary from Turkish. In the years of the reformation, the number of newspaper, magazines and periodicals increased and accordingly the need to purify the language became apparent. The writing of Namik Kemal, Ali Suavi, Ziya Pasa, Ahmet Mithat Efendi and Semsettin Sami, which appeared in various newspapers, tackled the problem of simplification. Efforts aimed at "Turkification" of the language by scholars like Ziya Gökalp became even more intensive at the beginning of the 20th century. Furthermore, during the reform period of 1839, emphasis was on theoretical linguistics whereas during the second constitutional period it was on the implementation and use of the new trend. Consequently new linguists published successful examples of the purified language in the periodical "Genç Kalemler" (Young Writers).

The Republican Era and Language Reform

With the proclamation of the Republic in 1923 and after the process of national integration in the 1923-1928 period, the subject of adopting a new alphabet became an issue of utmost importance. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had the Latin alphabet adapted to the Turkish vowel system, believing that to reach the level of contemporary civilization, it was essential to benefit from western culture. The creation of the Turkish Language Society in 1932 was another milestone in the effort to reform the language. The studies of the society, later renamed the Turkish Linguistic Association, concentrated on making use again of authentic Turkish words discovered in linguistic surveys and research and bore fruitful results.

At present, in conformity with the relevant provision of the 1982 Constitution, the Turkish Language Association continues to function within the organizational framework of the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History. The essential outcome of the developments of the last 50-60 years is that whereas before 1932 the use of authentic Turkish words in written texts was 35-40 percent, this figure has risen to 75-80 percent in recent years. This is concrete proof that Atatürk's language revolution gained the full support of public.

Reference: Ministry of Foreign Affairs/The Republic of Turkey

TURKISH HUMANISM AND ANATOLIAN MUSLIM SAINTS (DERVISHES)

Khorasan Dervishes , including “Haci Bektas-i Veli” the great Turkish thinker, had mixed up in the same culture, Christian communities living in Anatolia with Turkmen groups come by immigration, through activities of education and reconstruction and had not played a vital role in creation of cultural integrity in Anatolia and constitution of Central Authority. A number of Dervishes who had come to Anatolia by way of immigration settled in secluded road junctions, opened lodges (Zaviye) there, and these institutions established on unsettled territories had been converted into centers of culture, reconstruction and religion in time. Thus religious communities had been spread out everywhere; rules of ethic, decency, behaviour, belief had been standardised, knowledge and science had been produced and expanded in these centers within the framework of availabilities of the era. That these Dervishes had settled in villages and cultivated soil and dealt with education had been also supported by Rulers, and a number of privileges had been granted to Dervishes. Consequently lodges had been set up even at the most remote corners of Anatolia and a common cultural texture had been commenced forming thanks to the education provided. One of Khorasan Dervishes who had arrived in Anatolia is “Haci Bektas-i Veli”. “Haci Bektas-i Veli” was born in 1248 B.C. in Nishabur city of Khorasan in Iran and spent his childhood and youth in Khorasan; learned philosophy, social and technical sciences in “Hoca Ahmet Yesevi” Center and after travelling and studying Iran, Iraq, Arabia arrived in Anadolia in 1275/80 B.C. and settled in Hacibektas (formerly called Sulucakarahöyük). In that era Anatolia had been crushed under Mongolian invasion on the one part and had faced with great political and economic crisis as well as struggles of throne on the other part. “Haci Bektas-i Veli” who had settled in Sulucakarahöyük in such condition improved his philosophy and began to educate students. His system of thought based on tolerance and love of human being had spread shortly to masses of great people in Cappadocia which had been a greet center of Christianity and adopted by the people.

• The end of path not leading science is dark,
• Educate women,
• Control your hand, waist, tongue !
• The greatest book to be read is human being
• Honesty is the door of friendship,
• The quality of a spiritual teacher is to give, not to receive,
• Universe is within Adam, Adam is within the Universe,
• Science is the light illuminating roads towards the reality,
• The end of road not led by science is dark,
• Our way has been established on science, knowledge and love of human,
• Clean up your dwelling place, deserve the money you earn,
• Let us unite together, let us be huge, alive,
• Do not hurt even if you were offended,
• Whatever becomes heavy for your own personality, do not make it applied to anybody,
• Happy is those who enlighten the darkness of thought,
• Be mediator,
• Perfection of a person is the beauty of his words,
• Always bear in mind that even your enemy is a human,
• The biggest miracle is to work,
• Male, female are not questioned in the language of love.
  Everything created by God is placed orderly.
  Woman and man are not different according to us.
  Deficiency, shortness are in your views.

His philosophic thought has been based on existence of human being and love of human being. This thought has been reflecting the same understanding with 1948 Human Rights Universal Declaration. Thoughts of “Haci Bektas-i Veli Veli” have been taken into consideration in 1923 by M. Kemal Atatürk approximately after 600 year, and a republic which is secular, democratic, respectful to human rights has been established. Despite such a long time passed, his thoughts have been preserving their effectiveness and proceeding to enlighten the path of humanity.

• Temperature is in fire, not in sheet iron,
• Miracle is in coat, not in crown,
• Whatever you look for, look for within yourself
• Not in Jerusalem, Mecca, Pilgrimage.

“Haci Bektas-i Veli Veli” who made a statement as “ Difference in religion is unnecessary. In fact all religions are intended to establish peace and brotherhood in the World.” Has been setting forth all of his views in his work called “Velayetname”. The primary objective “Bektasilik” (following ideas of Bektasi) established on the basis of such system of thought of “Haci Bektas-i Veli Veli” is to perceive unity of “Universe-God-Human” which is basically formed by love. Human being is a creature of love. Human being has been provided with divine (God-Like) qualifications. Initial phase of success is that human being should know and love himself/herself; because human being carries in himself/herself a divine gist and an individual who loves himself/herself loves also God. The perfect expression of love of God in “Bektasilik” has been found in the best manner in the following quatrain:

• Their apprentices chip stone
• After chipping present it to their Master
• Mention the name of “God”
• In every piece of that stone.

Human being is an independent creature in his/her living environment. His/her duty is to behave modest, to purify his/her core, to be mature, to remain far from showing-off and to be full of love of God. Humanly bodies are only a mean for attaining an objective. Therefore to divide people as Woman and Man, or to despise them according to their social positions or their races are the biggest fault that can be performed. Women and Men, all human beings are equal. Thoughts of Haci Bektas-i Veli Veli have been prevailing still today and have been celebrated with great enthusiasm every year on dates of 15-16-17 August in township of Hacibektas of Nevsehir province.

One of Institutions which has been effective in attaining Anatolia’s cultural unity as referred above is the Organisation of Akhi (Ahilik). The Akhis who came in Anatolia together with “Yesevi” Dervishes settled themselves in urban areas rather than rural areas since they had a profession to work on. Organisation of Akhi, being a professional organisation, is an Interior (Batıni) Establishment. “Ahi Evran Veli”, one of Khorasan Dervishes as “ Haci Bektas-i Veli Veli”, ensured that Akhis of Anatolia become an organised power. Wife of “Ahi Evran” had been known as “Fatma Bacı Kadın Ana” and established Organisation of “Bacıyan-ı Rum” which was the first women organisation in the world. Akhis who had assembled in 13^th Century in Ankara and KırSehir under the Sheikhship of “Ahi Evnan” spread out shortly to Seljuk Cities. In foundation of the Ottoman Empire Akhis had played rather important role, and according to some sources they had attached “Osman Gazi” who was the founder of Ottoman Empire, his son “Orhan Gazi” and Murad-I the 3^rd Sultan to their sides.

General basic principle in Akhism (Ahilik) is absolute equalities of those who are the member of the Organisation. All members are brother of one another. However, there are an eternal respect hierarchically from young to older members. A candidate for membership is to be proposed by one of members in the Organisation. Those who are engaged in degrading works, known in the vicinity as unfavourable, thought to bring defaming words against the Organisation cannot be Akhi. For example those who killed somebody, killed animal (butchers), thieves, those whose adultery was proved cannot participate in the Organisation. Entrance into the Organisation is performed through a special ceremony like membership to the Organisation of “Bektasilik”. In this ceremony a special kind of belt (Þed) is worn by candidate of Akhi and advised that he must show love and respect to all humanity, and be true and honest. The organisation requires that all members have absolute loyalty and endless obey towards the Organisation. Atheists can never be a member to the Organisation, however devoted religious persons are not also allowed to participate in the Organisation. As was the case in the Organisation of “Bektasi”, members are subjected to such phases as to get knowledge, patience, purification of soul, loyalty, friendship, tolerance, etc. In addition to have such features six important principles of Akhism are:

1. Keep your hand open,

2. Keep your dining-table open,

3. Keep your door open,

4. Keep your eyes tied,

5. Control your waist,

6. Hold your tongue.

Whoever praying patience with devout in God
Came to us is our member.
Whoever working with wisdom and moral
Exceeded us is our member.

Certain phases are applied in Akhilism. In these phases disciple is taught professional skills, mysticism and religious information, reading and writing, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, music, mathematics and information about military as well as “Fütüvvetname” of a nature as the constitution of the Organisation of Akhi (Brotherhood). There is a system with nine ranks in the Organisation of Akhi, namely:

1- Valiant,

2- Assistant,

3- Apprentice,

4- Foreman,

5- Master,

6- Akhi,

7- Caliph,

8- Sheikh,

9- Sheikhulsheikh.

Although Organisation of Akhi has ceased to exist today, it has been celebrated officially with the Week of “Akhi Cultural Celebration” on the second Monday of the Month of October every year.

Another great scholar in Anatolia who enlightened the humanity is however “Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi”. “Mevlana was born in 1207 in Khorasan, died in 1273 in Konya. He received his first lessons from his father “Bahaeddin Veled” known as “Sultan of Scholars”. “ Mevlana” who had grown up complete with the thought of mysticism came across with “Sems Tebrizi” who was an Akhi and then his own thoughts started to take form. Mevlana’s ability to express his thought of mysticism through poetry helped him to be well known even today in all over the World.

• Non-priority is branch of love, root in endlessness.
• This greatness does not fit this wisdom, moral.
• Be disappear, give up your existence, Your existence is crime.
• Love is nothing but to find the true path.

According to Mevlana the most important thing which is necessary for reaching the God is love. A plant, animal may be also loved; however, the only creature that is capable of loving with its body, conscious, thought, memory altogether is human being. Mevlana praised the love felt for a woman; because a person who is capable of loving another person is able to love himself, all human beings, universe and the God. And the best of all loves is the love of “Reality” which starts when attained to this knowledge. “Sema” which has performed by “Mevlevi” dervishes by whirling is to reach an agreement with all the World in love, to keep pace with its universal whirling. The fact that one hand faces the sky and the other to the Earth is to present love received from the God to all the World. Soul is a core jetting out from the God, it is immortal. Soul is desirous to turn back to its source, to the God. Sound coming from “Reed” (Ney) is the sound of soul full of sadness, desiring to turn back the initial source. “Mevlana” has expressed that the Universe was the endless field of existence of the God and that human being carried a God-Like quality as a part of a whole by saying “ Hey, whoever looks for the God, it is you what you look for…”

Come whatever you are, come
Whether you are atheist, or worship fire,
Whether you have broken your oath thousand times
Our convent (Dergah) is not the convent of despair,
Come whatever you are, come again

As would be seen in the foregoing verses, “Mevlana” believed in brotherhood of all humanity and difference among religions would not be related with the God-Like presence. “Mevlana” attached great importance to women, by stating “ As long as you wanted that women should cover themselves with clothes, you would stimulate the desire in everybody to see them. If heart of a woman is good, like a man, whatever ban you put into practice she will lead to the way of goodness. If your heart is bad, whatever you do, you can never affect her.” Mevlana advocates equality of a woman with a man. Students of Mevlana were called “Kitap-el Esrar” (Clerks of Secret), among who had been included Muslims, Jews, Christians, Greeks, Iranians, Arabians, Armenians, Turks. Poems of Mevlana were collated by his Students consisting of so many different religion and nationality and have been arrived up to the present day.