Empayar Turki Uthmaniyyah

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Empayar Turki Uthmaniyyah (Turki Uthmaniyyah: Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye; Turki Moden: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu; Arab: الدولة العثمانية, Al-Dawla Al-ʿUthmaniyya) keluarga Bani Osmani ini adalah sebahagian kecil dari keseluruhan suku-suku bangsa Turki yang dikenali sebagai bangsa Turki yang masuk ke Asia Kecil semenjak abad ke sebelas yang lalu. Bangsa ini adalah pemimpin-pemimpin yang terus-menerus berjuang menentang Byzantine, terutama setelah mereka bergerak ke barat laut Anatolia di abad ke-13. Pengikut-pengikutnya direputasikan sebagai ghazi atau lebih mudah dikenali sebagai parajurit yang berjuang memerangi Kristian kerana jihad untuk menegakkan Islam, dan mengecapi kejayaan. Di sinilah wujudnya empayar atau kerajaan Uthmaniah, yang menampung kerajaan-kerajaan kecil bangsa Turki yang lain.

Pada tahun 1357 mereka menyeberangi Dardenalles menuju ke semenanjung Gallipoli dan sebelum akhir abad ke-14 mereka telah menduduki beberapa kawasan dibawah kerajaan Byzantine, termasuk Yunani dan Bulgaria. Constantinople (kemudian ditukar nama kepada Istanbul) jatuh ke tangan kerajaan Uthmaniah pada tahun 1453. Pada tahun 1526 sebagian besar wilayah Hungary telahpun berada di bawah kekuasaan Uthmaniah .Kerajaan Uthmaniah mempunyai angkatan laut yang handal di Lautan Tengah dan melaksanakan tugasnya dalam perang dengan Sepanyol dan kuasa-kuasa Eropah yang lain. Algeria segera mereka kuasai dan akhirnya menambahkan Tunisia sebagai wilayah kerajaan Uthmaniah. Uthmaniah juga melanjutkan peluasan kuasanya dengan menuju ke bahagian tenggara, menduduki Iraq dan bahagian-bahagian wilayah Arab yg lain. Bagi bangsa Eropah Barat, kemajuan Uthmaniah merupakan keganasan Islam. Dengan ini mereka menegaskan bahawa Islam adalah agama kekejaman dan agama pedang yang menakutkan. Maka tidak hairanlah pada tahun 1542, Dewan Kota Praja Basel di Switzerland membekukan penerbitan terjemahan Al Qur'an yang diterjemahkan oleh Robert dari Ketton. Dewan Kota Praja ini membantah dengan mengatakan "dongeng dan bid'ah yang dibuat-buat" dalam Al Qur'an itu akan mengganggu penganut Kristian Pada akhir abad ke-17, kelemahan kerajaan Uthmaniyah mulai terserlah selepas satu setengah abad berkuasa. Pengepungan ke atas Vienna di tahun 1683 turut menemui kegagalan dan kerajaan Uthmaniah kini pula menghadapi Persekutuan dari Austria, Poland, Venice dan Paus, dan bangsa Russia.

Semenjak tahun 1699 mereka telah banyak menemui kekalahan dan di dalam perjanjian damai Karlovitz, Uthmaniah harus mempersetujui penyerahan wilayah-wilayahnya kepada Austria, Vennice dan Poland. Walaupun demikian, mereka tetap mempertahankan hak mereka di bahagia tenggara Eropah, termasuk pantai barat dan utara Laut Hitam. Namun pada abad ke-19, kerajaan Uthmaniah kembali kehilangan sebahagian besar dari wilayah taklukkannya yang dimulai dengan kemerdekaan Yunani pada tahun 1829 dan pendudukan Perancis ke atas Algeria pada tahn 1830. Kerajaan Uthmaniah menjadi "the sick man of Europe" iaitu Orang Eropah yang sakit dan hanya persaingan mereka inilah yang mencegah terjadinya perpecahan-perpecahan yang dahulunya pernah terjadi. Setelah kekalahannya dalam Perang Dunia I di tahun 1912-1919, semua wilayah ini masih tetap berada di bawah Kerajaan Uthmaniah, dengan wilayah Eropahnya adalah kawasan di sekitar Istanbul meluas sampai ke sebelah utara Edirne (Adrianople) dan ke barat sampai ke Gallipoli. Bangsa Turki di bawah kekuasaan Mustafa Kamal Ataturk telah menghapuskan nama Kerajaan Uthmaniah pada 1922 dan diganti dengan Republik Turki. Wilayah-wilayah jajahan di Asia dan Afrika dahulu telah hilang kecuali Anatolia yang masih berada di wilayah Republik Turki ini.

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Semasa penubuhan dan perkembangan Empayar Uthmaniyyah, karakteristik empayar ini tidak boleh disoal lagi lebih-lebih lagi semasa pemerintahan Sultan Muhammad II. Hal ini menjadikan Empayar Uthmaniyyah istimewa dalam sejarah ketamadunan manusia.


Sultan Muhammad al-FatihSepanjang kurun ke-16, Empayar Uthmaniyyah terus berkembang daripada segi wilayah dan kekuasaan dengan mengembangkan kekuasaan sehingga ke Afrika Utara di barat daya dan Parsi di sebelah timur. Semasa Perang Chaldiran, di sebelah timur Anatolia, (sekarang di barat Tabriz, Turki) pada tahun 1514, tentera Uthmaniyyah di bawah pimpinan Sultan Selim I memenangi pertempuran menentang tentera Parsi. Hal ini memastikan keselamatan wilayah Uthmaniyyah di sebelah timurnya. Selepas itu tumpuan Empayar Uthmaniyyah beralih kepada bahagian barat empayar terbabit. Sultan Suleiman I, selepas menaiki takhta pada tahun 1518, mengetuai beberapa siri ketenteraan di Balkan. Di bawah Suleiman yang juga merupakan seorang strategis yang hebat, tentera Uthmaniyyah mara ke utara dengan menguasai Belgrade (1521), mengalahkan Hungary (1526), dan menyerang Vienna (1529).

Kejayaan pengembangan kuasa Uthmaniyyah pada kurun ke-16 adalah kerana kemahiran bersenjata api dan taktik peperangan di samping kesempurnaan sistem ketenteraan. Tentera Uthmaniyyah juga amat mahir dalam melakukan serangan dan kepungan kerana serangan seperti ini mendatangkan kesan kemusnahan yang teruk terhadap musuh mereka.

Salah satu contoh terbaik untuk menunjukkan kemahiran mereka menyerang atau membuat pengepungan ialah semasa peristiwa penaklukan Constantinople (Istanbul) pada tahun 1453. Semasa serangan terbabit, meriam-meriam besar digunakan bagi memusnahkan tembok yang tinggi dan tebal. Meriam-meriam ini diperbuat daripada gangsa dan dibawa berdekatan dengan kota ini menggunakan banyak tenaga manusia disamping penggunaan kerbau dan lembu kerana berat yang melampau meriam-meriam ini. Meriam-meriam ini kemudiannya ditanam di sebelah hujung bagi menyerap tekanan letupannya. Seorang panglima Austria pernah berkata bahawa tentera Uthmaniyyah amat "kebal" semasa musim panas. Keterangan ini nyata benar memandangkan banyak kejayaan dicapai semasa kempen-kempen perangnya.

Sultan Al-Fatih

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Perkembangan kekuasaan Uthmaniyyah boleh dikategorikan kepada dua zaman. Zaman pertama boleh dikatakan semasa berlakunya penaklukan dan perkembangan kuasa; iaitu bermula daripada penawanan Constantinople pada tahun 1453 sehinggalah kematian Sultan Suleiman al-Qanuni (Suleiman the Magnificent) pada tahun 1566. Selepas berakhirnya zaman pertama, zaman kedua pula muncul iaitu semasa struktur pentadbiran mula menunjukkan kelemahannya akibat daripada perebutan kuasa dan rasuah iaitu dari tahun 1566 sehinggalah kegagalan serangan ke atas Vienna pada tahun 1683.

Bagi meluaskan pengaruh dan kawasan Empayar Uthmaniyyah semasa zaman perluasaan kuasanya, pemimpin memilih untuk menyebarkan melalui laluan air yakni laut. Selim I menawan Parsi sebelum tewas kepada tentera Parsi tidak lama kemudian. Parsi kemudian menewaskan tentera Uthmaniyyah dan menawan sebahagian kawasan milik Uthmaniyyah di timur empayar itu. Mereka juga berjaya menawan Baghdad. Empayar Uthmaniyyah menubuhkan tentera laut di Laut Merah bagi mengatasi pengaruh Portugis dalam perdagangan rempah. Semasa zaman ini, Empayar Uthmaniyyah bersaing dengan kuasa-kuasa Eropah di Laut India. Empayar Uthmaniyyah juga menghantar tentera lautnya bersama-sama dengan kelengkapan perang dan askar ke Kenya dan Aceh bagi membantu pemerintah-pemerintah Muslim di sana, di samping mempertahankan perdagangan rempah dan hamba. Di Aceh, Empayar Uthmaniyyah membina kubu dan mempertahankannya menggunakan meriam. Empayar Turki Uthmaniyyah juga merupakan kuasa yang bertanggungjawb dalam membantu perjuangan pihak Protestant Belanda bagi menghadapai konflik mereka dengan golongan Katholik Sepanyol. Tentera laut Uthmaniyyah juga mempunyai banyak pengaruh di Laut Mediterranean menjadikan perdagangan di sana berkembang dengan pesat disebabkan kestabilan perdangan di situ. Zaman ini kemudiannya dikenali sebagai zaman "Pax Ottomanica" oleh orang Barat.

Serangan ke atas Vienna bukanlah satu siri pengembangan kuasa Empayar Uthmaniyyah terhadap Jerman. Sebenarnya pihak Turki Uthmaniyyah hanyalah ingin bertindak terhadap campur tangan Hapsburg Sepanyol ke atas Hungary. Hal ini juga menyebabkan sesetengah sekutu Uthmaniyyah membelot terhadap Empayar Uthmaniyyah. Paus di Itali kemudiannya meninggalkan kepentingan sekularnya bagi membangkitkan semangat anti-Islam di samping ingin melancarkan perang salib yang baru. Dalam masa yang akan datang, Empayar Uthmaniyyah bukan sahaja sebuah kuasa penakluk tetapi juga sebuah instrumen politik Eropah. Perang di Vienna membawa kepada zaman kemerosotan terhadap Empayar Utmaniyyah.

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Selepas tewasnya tentera Uthmaniyyah dalam perang di Vienna pada tahun 1683 yang menunjukkan bahawa Empayar Uthmaniyyah bukan lagi kuasa besar di Eropah. Pada tahun 1699, buat pertama kali dalam sejarahnya, Empayar Uthmaniyyah mengakui bahawa Austria adalah sama taraf dengannya. Bukan sahaja itu, Empayar Uthmaniyyah juga kehilangan wilayah besar dikuasainya sejak sekian lama. Terdapat banyak sultan yang dilantik selepas itu yang tidak sekuat generasi Mehmed II, Selim I dan Suleyman I.

Semasa zaman kemerosotan ini, Empayar Uthmaniyyah lemah kerana masalah dalaman dan luarannya disebabkan peperangan yang amat mahal terutamanya menentang Parsi, Persekutuan Poland-Lithuania, Russia, Austria-Hungary. Perang Russia-Turki ialah peperangan antara Russia dan Empayar Uthmaniyyah semasa kurun ke-17, ke-18, dan ke-19 masihi (kesemuanya 10 peperangan). Ia merupakan di antara konflik yang paling lama dalam sejarah Eropah yang berlarutan selama 241 tahun; lebih lama daripada Perang Seratus Tahun di antara England dan Perancis. Sebelum itu, Empayar Uthmaniyyah tewas dalam Perang Lepanto pada tahun 1571.

Perjanjian Passarowitz menghasilkan satu era yang aman di antara tahun 1718-1730. Pentadbiran Uthmaniyyah mula berubah dengan memajukan kota-kota sekitar Balkan yang akan menjadi benteng pertahanan mereka sekiranya peperangan meletus dengan kuasa Eropah. Pelbagai perubahan dilakukan seperti mendapat pandangan rakyat, mengurangkan cukai, memperbaiki kemudahan awam, dan berbagai-bagai lagi perubahan. Walau bagaimanapun, Empayar Uthmaniyyah gagal bersaing dalam bidang teknologi dengan musuh Eropahnya, terutamanya Russia.

Pada penghujung kurun kelapan-belas menyaksikan Empayar Uthmaniyyah ketinggalan jauh berbanding kuasa Barat. Peperangan berlaku dan mengakibatkan Uthmaniyyah kehilangan banyak wilayah kepada Russia dan Austria. Kawasan seperti Mesir juga mencapai kemerdekaan. Semasa zaman ini, bermula dengan pemerintahan Sultan Selim III terdapat usaha-usaha untuk memodenkan sistem-sistem di Turki. Banyak reformasi yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah dihalang oleh golongan-golongan konservatif di dalam Turki Uthmaniyyah sendiri sama ada oleh golongan keagamaan atau oleh golongan Janissari yang pada masa ini telah menjadi korup. Walaupun askar elit Janissari ini dimansuhkan pada tahun 1826, usaha ini masih mendapat tentangan.

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Proses kemerosotan dan kejatuhan Empayar Uthmaniyyah dibentuk oleh pengstukturan semula dan transformasi dalam setiap aspek Empayar Uthmaniyyah. Walau bagaimanapun, usaha yang berterusan tidak membantu dalam menghalang proses kemerosotan sistem Uthmaniyyah. Satu perubahan yang signifikan hanyalah apabila Empayar Uthmaniyyah mula menjadi sekutu kuasa-kuasa Eropah. Terdapat beberapa siri pakatan dengan beberapa negara Eropah seperti Perancis, Belanda, Britain dan Russia. Salah satu contoh yang nyata ialah semasa Perang Crimea, yang mana Perancis, Britain, dan Uthmaniyyah berpakat menentang Tsar Russia.

Terdapat pada satu masa iaitu antara tahun 1839 dan 1876, reformasi dilaksanakan. Semasa zaman ini tentera moden ditubuhkan. Sistem perbankan juga disusun semula di samping pembinaan kilang-kilang yang moden. Dari struktur ekonomi pula, pihak pentadbir Uthmaniyyah menghadapi kesukaran membayar balik pinjaman yang dibuat dengan bank-bank di Eropah. Dari segi ketenteraan, ia menghadapi masalah mempertahankan dirinya daripada diduduki kuasa-kuasa asing (cth: Mesir diduduki Perancis pada 1798; Cyprus diduduki British pada 1876, dll.).

Dalam semua idea Empayar Uthmaniyyah dapati daripada kuasa Barat seperti nasionalisme etnik. Kebangkitan nasionalisme etnik mengancam kestabilan Uthmaniyyah kerana rakyatnya yang berbilang bangsa. Banyak peristiwa pemberontakan atas nama nasionalisme muncul dan mengugat Empayar Uthmaniyyah.


Pembukaan İttihat ve Terakki CemiyetiKebangkitan nasionalisme memaksa Empayar Uthmaniyyah untuk bertindak. Sepanjang enam abad yang lalu banyak yang telah berubah kecuali sistem kerajaan. Ada juga sekumpulan orang dari Uthmaniyyah yang mempunyai pendidikan barat berpendapat bahawa konsep raja berpelembagaan dapat mengurangkan tekanan di dalam negara. İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Perhimpunan Perpaduan dan Kemajuan) mempunyai hubungan yang istimewa dalam kumpulan ini. Menurut buku yang dikeluarkan oleh İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti, kejayaan dapat dicapai sekiranya perubahan dilakukan terhadap institusi sosial dan politik Uthmaniyyah. Menerusi sebuah penggulingan ketenteraan, İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti memaksa Sultan Abdul Aziz untuk menyerahkan takhta kepada Murad V. Bagaimanapun, Murad V mempunyai masalah mental. Sultan Abdul Aziz terpaksa dipanggil semula dengan syarat baginda akan mengubah sistem politiknya. Sultan Abdul Aziz mengubah struktur pentadbiran yang berusia ratusan tahun ini 23 November 1876. Baginda mengubah nama perlembagaan baru ini kepada "Kanun-i Esasi". Perlembagaan ini bertahan sehinggalah bermulanya Perang Crimea.

Menjelang penghujung kurun kesembilan belas, keadaan politik Empayar Uthmaniyyah menunjukkan keadaan kucar-kacir pada masa akan datang. Hal ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa reformasi dan perubahan tidak cukup untuk membuat perbezaan dan tidak cukup untuk menghalang pembubaran Empayar Turki Uthmaniyyah.

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Dari sudut sosial, kebangkitan semangat nasionalisme dan perubahan untuk demokrasi menjadikan rakyat semakin tidak tenteram. Hal ini akhirnya menyebabkan beberapa siri perebutan kuasa yang mengakibatkan konsep raja berpelembagaan ditubuhkan yang mana sultan mempunyai sedikit kuasa manakala Parti Jawatankuasa Pembangunan dan Kemajuan, lebih dikenali sebagai Turki Muda, memerintah keseluruhan Empayar Uthmaniyyah.


Peta terakhir kawasan Empayar Uthmaniyyah.Tiga buah negara Balkan yang baru terbentuk pada penghujung abad kesembilan belas. Keseluruhan wilayah itu termasuk Montenegro mencari kawasan tambahan di dalam wilayah Albania, Macedonia, dan Thrace yang berada di bawah pentadbiran Uthmaniyyah. Dengan dorongan dari Russia, beberapa siri perjanjian ditandatangani: antara Serbia dan Bulgaria (Mac 1912) dan antara Yunani dan Bulgaria (Mei 1912). Perjanjian di antara Serbia dan Bulgaria mendesak kepada perpisahan Macedonia yang mengakibatkan Perang Balkan I. Selepas itu terjadi pula Perang Balkan II.

Dalam usaha terakhir untuk memastikan wilayah-wilayah terbabit kekal dalam kekuasaan Uthmaniyyah, Enver Pasha menyertai kuasa tengah dalam Perang Dunia Pertama. Empayar Uthmaniyyah mendapat beberapa kejayaan dalam tempoh awal peperangan terbabit. Pihak bersekutu, termasuk unit tentera baru, ANZAC dikalahkan di Gallipoli, Iraq dan Balkan, dan beberapa kawasan diperolehi. Di Caucasus, tentera Uthmaniyyah tewas dalam beberapa siri pertempuran dan ini membolehkan tentera Russia bergerak dari Trabzon, Erzurum, ke arah Van. Empayar Uthmaniyyah bagaimanapun tewas pada akhir peperangan ini terhadap pihak bersekutu dan mengakibatkan ia kehilangan wilayahnya.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, yang memperoleh reputasi yang baik semasa kempen di Gallipoli dan Palestin, dengan rasmi dihantar daripada Istanbul (ditawan) untuk memerintah dan membubarkan tentera Uthmaniyyah di Caucasus. Pada awalnya pihak Uthmaniyyah hanya mengikuti arahan sahaja. Walau bagaimanapun dalam masa tahun kemudian, berlakunya perang kemerdekaan Turki (1918-1923) menentang kuasa asing. Perjuangan mereka ini mengakibatkan penggulingan kuasa Sultan Mehmet VI oleh Perhimpunan Baru Turki. Republik Turki kemudian diasaskan pada 29 Oktober 1923.

topeng perak

sultan yavuz salim ... or omputih panggil beliau selim the grim ... figure antara yg aku minat dalam Uthmaniyyah empire

satu lagi ialah sultan mehmed II al-fatih ... kata orang barat,dia nieh first man of artilerry ... pasal dia lerh yg first pakai gunpowder kat atas bumi nieh ntuk perang ... dia bawak ber tan tan meriam ntuk mengebom constantinople pada tahun 1453

thamrong

Wilayah jajahan Ottoman dikemuncak kuasanya

HangPC2

Ottoman Empire Warship

Galley Warships (Kardigas)





Galleon Warships (Kalyon)

Galleon-sized warships were first incorporated into the Ottoman navy during the reign of Bayezid II. During that time, Ottoman galleons measured between 43 and 64 zira in length -- and were of the 1500 to 2000 ton 'class'.
But when Selim III ascended the throne, the Ottoman Navy improved by leaps and bounds -- to match the best of Europe...





Ottoman Turkish Flintlock Kubur Pistol 1750



18th century Ottoman rifle, length 143cm, bore 15mm, muzzle loaded



Ottoman (Uthmaniyah) Empire Canon



[ Last edited by  HangPC2 at 22-8-2007 01:12 AM ]

HangPC2

Turkey

Ottoman Empire (Uthmaniyah)



Ottoman Empire



Ottoman Empire: Flags depicted in a Dutch chart - XIXth century



Religious flag



Ottoman Flag until 1918 (Historical Flags, Lebanon)



Customs flag



Ottoman Greek



Turkish Merchant

HangPC2

-edit-

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[ Last edited by  HangPC2 at 29-4-2006 01:28 PM ]

peret

patut la mat saleh takut gn turki ...

topeng perak

khai ar din barbarossa ... admiral of the fleet dizaman suleiman the magnificent@ sulaiman al-qanuni .... beliau salah sorang figure yg aku suke

earthfault

Betul ke sultan2 zaman ottoman ni kaki perempuan.
Tgk dalam filem, sultan2 ni byk gundik dan nakkan semua perempuan cantik.

topeng perak

Originally posted by earthfault at 25-6-2006 05:48 PM
Betul ke sultan2 zaman ottoman ni kaki perempuan.
Tgk dalam filem, sultan2 ni byk gundik dan nakkan semua perempuan cantik.

senario ini berlaku semasa "lale peroid" ... or "tulip period"

masa nehh kat eropah sedang melalui zaman renaissance

peret

Aug 9 2002 - February 8, 1919 was a fateful date in the modern Islamic history. On that date, the French general Franchet d' Esperey entered Istanbul on a white horse, emulating Muhammad the Conqueror's entrance in 1453 and signifying that the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire over the city was over. The Muslims are still mourning the sad demise of the last Islamic Caliphate, after more than three centuries of high achievement.

When the Ottoman Empire was in decline it became known to its detractors as the Sick Man of Europe. The Treaty of Sevres would have divided modern Turkey between several countries, leaving the Turks themselves with only a rump state in central Anatolia.

By the end of the World War I, the adverse situation was aggravated in the Islamic world as a Turkish general named Mustafa Kamal was declared a president of the Turkish Republic in October 1923. Mustafa Kamal dedicated himself for a tough war against all aspects of Islam in Turkey. This man has contracted gonorrhea earlier which caused him constant kidney problems throughout his years as a president. It is well known that gonorrhea is a venereal disease resulting from having sex with prostitutes!

The new Turkey's ideology became "Kamalism", later known as "Ataturkism". Its basic principles stress secularism and nationalism as the only way to modernization, irrespective of the wishes of the vast Muslim majority. A clause retaining Islam as the state religion was removed from the Turkish constitution. Ataturk was determined to put his people in identity crisis by imposing the European lifestyle in his country. European hats replaced the fez; women were prevented from wearing the veil. Conservative female students, are not allowed to wear head scarves to school or university, if they do they are thrown out!

All citizens are forced to take surnames; and the Islamic calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar. State employees are forbidden to grow beards and are not allowed to wear "un-contemporary clothing," or traditional Islamic dress. Friday sermons in mosques have to be approved by the state's Ministry of Religious Affairs, and clerics are banned from wearing their ceremonial robes in public.

It can be said that few nations have ever experienced anything comparable to the social change imposed by Ataturk in Turkey. The entire educational system from the grade school to the university was made secular and co-educational. Ataturk transformed the University of Istanbul (founded in the mid-15th century) into a pure secular university. He gave impetus to the study of pre-Islamic ancient cultures and arts of earlier civilizations of Anatolia merely to prove that, long before their Islamic Seljuk and Ottoman Empire, the Turks had already created a civilization of their own. Western music, opera and ballet as well as the theater made impressive strides.

The most difficult change in any society is probably a language change. Most nations never attempt it; those who do, usually prefer a gradual approach. Under Ataturk's leadership, Turkey undertook the world's toughest and most extensive language change. In 1928, when he decided that the Arabic script, which had been used by the Turks for a thousand years, should be replaced with the Latin alphabet, he asked the experts: " How long would it take ?" Most of them replied: " At least five years." " We shall do it," Ataturk said," within five months" The language change was made so as to enable the Turks to study Western languages with greater effectiveness.

Between 1926 and 1930, Mustafa Kamal made a legal transformation which might have required decades in most other countries. The new Civil Code, adopted in 1926, contrary to the Islamic teachings abolished polygamy and gave equal rights to women in divorce, custody, and inheritance. Religious laws were abolished, and a secular system of jurisprudence introduced. The new Civil Code, Penal Code, and Business Law, were based on the Swiss, Italian and German models respectively. The concepts, the texts and contexts of the laws were made harmonious with the progressive thrust of Ataturkism.

In 1934, when the surname law was adopted, the Turkish parliament gave him the name "Ataturk" (Father of the Turks). On November 10, 1938, Mustafa Kamal died. But his legacy of hostility to Islam endures. It is a matter of protocol in Turkey that foreign dignitaries or VVIP while visiting Turkey, are taken to the mausoleum of Kamal Ataturk.

Turkey is overwhelmingly a Muslim country, but the military high command and other staunch anti-religious groups are still not pleased with the Islamization of Turkey and intervene whenever they feel that Turkey's secular system is threatened.
The modernization or Europeanization plans made by Ataturk and his followers had forged the Islamic identity of the Turks but no properly working economy is established in a country with its currency plummeting so far. The corruption in high places plagues Turkish politics and economy, and the country is still looked upon as the Sick Man of Europe.

Ataturk and his followers can never erase Islam from the hearts and minds of more than sixty million Turks. "It is ridiculous. Turkey is 98 percent Muslim, yet we are less free to practice our traditions than Muslims in Paris or London or Berlin," says murat Yalcintas, the US-educated deputy head of the AK Party's powerful Instanbul branch.

Ataturkism Today:

For the United States and the West, Turkey is a key ally, providing support for any war operations in the region. As the only Muslim member of the NATO, and a country on the border of East and West, Turkey has played an important role in the US military action against Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite the government's pro-US position, opinion polls suggest that Turkish people are against Turkish involvement in military actions against any of Turkey's Muslim neighbors. Washington wants to see a government in power that it can do business with, and which has the authority to take decisions which may not be popular!

Turkey became an official candidate for EU membership in 1999. In December 4, 2000, the European Union agreed on a document setting out terms on which Turkey could begin negotiating its membership of the EU. Accordingly, on August 3, 2002, the Turkish parliament voted in favour of a reform package aimed at preparing the country for the long waited European Union membership. The package includes lifiting the death penalty except in times of war and for acts of terrorism etc

peret

Turkey between Islam and Ataturkism - Part 2

Welfare Party Leads Turkey

In 1995, the pro-Islamist Welfare Party won elections and it's leader Necmettin Erbakan headed the first pro-Islamic government since 1923. The Islamic Welfare Party formed the largest opposition party in parliament and in the general elections in December 1995, it took more than 20% of the vote. The Welfare party led a government coalition for one year.

However, Turkey's military grew increasingly angered by what it saw as Welfare's attempts to Islamise the country, accusing the party of secretly planning to introduce Islamic rule. The party is also accused of being a centre of fundamentalist activities and undermining the secular foundations of the Turkish constitution. Mr. Erbakan was accused of pursuing anti-secularist policies. Less than a year after he took office, he was forced to step down after pressure by the strictly secularist army!

Turkey's main Islamic political party, Welfare, was banned in August 1998. Mr. Erbakan was banned from politics for five years. He was not able to lead, or even join, the Virtue Party, which his supporters founded after his downfall. It was the third time a party led by Mr. Erbakan had been banned: the National Order Party was banned in 1971 after a military coup, and the National Salvation Party was shut down in 1980 - also after a coup. The pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party had also been banned and closed.

There has been an intense campaign against the Welfare Party ever since it was forced out of government. The Party has been criticised for promoting religious schools and encouraging women to wear the veils. The party was accused of making unwise alliances abroad and trying to create a religious state. Mr. Erbakan, suggested that Turkey head a union of Islamic nations. He visited some Arab and Islamic countries so as to build closer ties with them. In November, 2000, the Turkish Appeal Court has rejected an appeal by Necmettin Erbakan, against a one-year jail sentence for inciting racial hatred. The human rights group, Amnesty International said it will designate Mr. Erbakan as a prisoner of conscience if he is jailed.

Prosecutors cited the 1994 election campaign speech in which Mr. Erbakan railed against the secularist establishment, accusing it of dividing Turks and Kurds by replacing Islam-based public life with a secular and nationalist ideology. He also attacked the fact that Turkish students opened their school day by reciting nationalist slogans and not Qur'anic verses!

The court in March 2000 found Mr. Erbakan guilty of inciting religious hatred in a speech he gave in 1994. Under Turkish law, the party's assets, which are already frozen, are liable for seizure by the Finance Ministry. The Turkish Appeal court has upheld a one year jail sentence imposed on Mr. Necmettin Erbakan. Mr. Erbakan after being banned from active politics for five years, is still the leading light of the Islamist movement.

Although, the Welfare Party was forced out of government and closed down, it remained the largest party in parliament. The support for this party remains strong and the Welfare Party was again re-born. Mr. Erbakan is the driving force behind the new pro-Islamic Parties.

The Virtue Party:

Welfare's successor, the Virtue Party, also faced the closure by a court on charges of trying to replace the modern constitution with one based on Islamic Sharia law. Virtue leader, Recai Kutan, said the verdict to close the party was a "a blow to Turkey's search for democracy and law". The Virtue Party has become the latest in a series of pro-Islamic parties to be closed down under Turkey's strictly secular system. The court ordered that Virtue's assets should be handed over to the treasury.

This decision was hoped to mark the end of an era, stretching back three decades, in which political Islam in Turkey was represented by a single party. Virtue was widely seen as more moderate than some of its pro-Islamic predecessors. The party did not call for an Islamic state, but pressed for a relaxation of secular laws which, for example, forbid women working in government offices or students from wearing Islamic-style head scarves.

As Hasan Koni of Ankara University notes, the Turkish military still regards any form of political Islam as a potential threat. "Islam and democracy hand in hand is never trusted by the military," he says. The debate over political Islam has become even more intense after the discovery of dozens of bodies belonging to the victims of the Islamic group, Turkish Hezbollah, which has shocked the nation. Human remains have been recovered across the country. Abdullah Gul of the Virtue party said: "about 99% of those killed, were our supporters. He denies any involvement of their party in fundamentalist activities. We have a very large potential in this country, very large proportion support us. "

The mayor of Kayseri went on trial on charges of using religion to incite hatred and division, punishable by three years in prison. The mayor, Sukru Karatepe, who's a leading Islamist, made a speech, in which he urged people to fight against Turkey's secular system. Mr. Karatepe says his remarks have been taken out of context, and that he's the victim of a political campaign.

In 26 February, 1998, the students of Istanbul university protested against a ban on beards and Islamic-style headscarves. Turkey's National Security Council -- composed of top military generals and government leaders -- has discussed these protests. In Turkey, the moustache is a distinct part of the personality. Civil servants have been issued with clear directives or instructions about the type, the exact length and shape of the moustache - it has to be clipped straight, and it must end above the upper lip. Such strict secular dress codes, are designed to quell any rise in Islamic sentiment.

In August, 2000 the Turkish army chief called for a purge of all civil servants and government employees with alleged links to Islamist groups on the pretext that they are trying to undermine the secular state. "The army expels this kind of people as soon as it detects them. If [the government] wants public offices to function properly it should do the same," Huseyin Kivrikoglu, chief of the army's general staff, has said. The Turkish military acts as a powerful defender of secularism in Turkey, and has expelled over 200 people since 1996. Those personnel have been dismissed because they are suspected of having links to separatist Kurdish and anti-secular Islamic movements.

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The Justice and Development Party:

In August, 2001 moderate members of Turkey's outlawed pro-Islamic Virtue Party have announced the forming of a new party. The Justice and Development Party is led by the popular former mayor of Istanbul, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and become the most popular political party in Turkey. The new party is known by its Turkish initials AK, meaning white or clean. Mr. Erdogan is topping the polls and looks like he might rise to head a new government as Turkey is heading for early elections in November and the prospects for its mainstream political parties are not good. Popular disaffection runs so deep.

Erdogan's newly formed pro-Islamic party enjoys a 24 percent, making it by far the leader of the political pack. Newsweek reported that: "unless the military steps to stop the AK's meteoric rise, it looks like Turkish voters are ready to give Erdogan and his Islamic alternative a try. In the wake of war on terror and when Islam is widely taken as an enemy of modernity, that prospect might be expected to set the alarm bells jangling especially in Europe and the West!"

Erdogan and many of the AK leadership were once Islamic activists in the Welfare Party. It was Turkey's only experience with an Islamic government. Observers say the new party is expected to offer a serious challenge to mainstream conservative groups at the country's next elections.

Mr. Erdogan himself was banned from politics in 1998 for inciting religious hatred by reciting a poem with pro-Islamic messages. He spent four months in jail in 1999 for "inciting religious extremism," when he read out a poem to a crowd in southeastern Turkey. The poem says: "The domes of the mosques are helmets / And the minarets are our bayonets." He is also currently under investigation again after videos were released last year recording remarks he made in 1992, in which he appears to praise Islamic Sharia and criticize the Army's role in politics.

Recently a court ruled that his 1999 conviction bars him from being elected to Parliament and therefore from becoming a prime minister. He is also facing treason charges for criticizing the Army in 1992, and another criminal investigation has been opened for alleged corruption when he was mayor of Istanbul - an accusation that many find ironic since, at the time Erdogan was famously uncorrupt, to the point of refusing even to live in the official mayor's residence!

In May, 2001, a court in Turkey ordered the police to arrest and take to prison the leader of an Islamic group who was convicted last year of inciting religious hatred. Mehmet Kutlular, the leader of the Nur Cemaati group, was sentenced to two years in prison for claiming in a speech at a religious ceremony that an earthquake was God's revenge against Turkey for its secularist policies. The appeal was rejected by a court and an administrative court ordered the enforcement of the sentence. In another trial, the head of a pro-Islamic industrialists' association, Erol Yarar, faces a possible three-year sentence on the charge of inciting religious hatred.

The Zionist Connection:

The Ottoman Sultans had repeatedly refused to hand over Palestine to the Zionist Movement, until they were defeated in World War I. Nowadays, the Ataturkist Turks are bolstering their bilateral ties with the Zionist Entity. The Israeli Defence Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, visited Turkey in July 2001, to strengthen strategic ties between the two countries.
Ben-Eliezer said he also wanted to promote joint projects between the Israeli and Turkish armed forces. Turkey and Israel have developed close security ties since the signing of a military accord in 1996. The agreement angered many Arab and Muslim countries.

In August 2001, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited Ankara at a time when there is growing dismay within the Muslim World at the Palestinians' plight. The Israeli-Turkish relationship is an alliance of military heavyweights who both suffer from a sense of regional isolation. This military alliance undoubtedly has important security as well as political and economic aspects. There is a public and a private face of this alliance and it is only possible to speculate on the intelligence sharing and contingency-planning that may be going on behind the scenes.

Both Israel and Turkey are close allies of the United States, but the US is often unwilling to share advanced military technology with Ankara. Turkey is eager to get US approval to buy Israel's Arrow anti-missile system. Israel has upgraded Turkish warplanes, it is negotiating to upgrade Turkey's older US-supplied tanks. This military dimension is only part of a much broader economic relationship linking the two countries. Israel's arms industry, which is seen as essential in maintaining the country's qualitative military edge, has eagerly seized upon the Turkish contracts. Israeli warplanes have conducted training flights in Turkish air space and there have been joint naval exercises.

The Israelis are negotiating with Turkey for the possible sale of fresh water to Israel. The water can be piped on board converted oil tankers moored off-shore. Water is fast becoming a strategic asset in such a dry region and the Turkish water market may trigger fresh conflicts with Syria and Iraq over the waters of Euphrates and Tigris.

Turkey's Failed EU Ambitions:

Turkey may have been campaigning to join the EU for years, but the EU still provokes many of the old Turkish suspicions and betrayal has never gone away. There is a long line of European actions which are profoundly anti-Turkish. Whatever the political and economic route which Turkey have to adopt or conditions fulfilled, it will never be accepted into the EU.

Senior politicians believe there are influential forces in Europe who want to revive the "spirit of Sevres" and see Turkey weakened and divided. They are opposed to Turkey's EU ambitions - the Christian Democrats in Germany, for example, make no secret of their belief that it is inappropriate to admit such a large Muslim nation as a member. It is, many Turks believe, another sign of the "Christian Club" mobilising to keep over sixty million Muslims out of the EU.

A recent Turkish newspaper survey showed that the countries which Turks most distrust are all near neighbors, and, much of the anger has been directed towards Europe.

topeng perak

damn attaturk ... may he will laying badly in the burning hell

jpl_fan

aku x tau ler btl ker x..tp cikgu sejarah aku dulu pernah citer yg mayat kamal attartuk nie x diterima bumi..:hmm:
anyway aku pun benci ngan dia nie..beria ria mengeuropekan negara Islam..