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Islam and modernity

TURKS SENSE DAWN OF NEW ERA OF POWER AND CONFIDENCE

By Bridget Kendall

Diplomatic correspondent, Istanbul

The dome next to Istanbul's ancient walls is one of the city's newest tourist attractions. The 360 degree panorama, complete with sound effects of cannon fire and fighting, depicts the moment in 1453 when the Byzantine city of Constantinople was seized by the Turkish Sultan.

On the painted walls, Ottoman troops are poised for the final assault. Across the sky, flaming firebombs leave smoking trails. Close up the battle is already raging. The city's walls are crumbling. Soon Constantinople will fall and the era of the Ottoman Empire will begin.

The dome is crammed with excited Turkish children on school trips, all visibly impressed by this vista of a glorious past. "It's a significant moment, the salvation of Istanbul," says 15-year-old Jansu. "There's nothing bigger... It really gives you a great feeling."

'Diplomatic bridge'

Turkey today is booming. And with its growing economic clout has come a new assertiveness that has led some to wonder if it harbours neo-Ottoman ambitions to resurrect its role as a dominant power in the Middle East.

Turkish diplomats dismiss talk of neo-Ottomanism. They point out that Turkey is a loyal member of the Nato alliance, an important EU trading partner, and that it remains firmly committed to reforms to make it eligible for EU membership, should that moment ever come.

It is, they emphasise, a diplomatic bridge between East and West, not a power with imperial designs.

Yet in recent years, Turkey has not always acted in concert with the West. It forged separate and closer ties with Iran. Differences over Gaza plunged its relations with Israel into a deep freeze. Autocratic Arab leaders including Colonel Gaddafi of Libya and President Assad of Syria were courted as part of a new policy of 'zero problems with neighbours'.

Islam and modernity

That policy was swiftly reversed when parts of the Arab world descended into turmoil this year. But Turkey has not taken a back seat. Now it presents itself to the new governments of the Arab Spring as a model, a useful example to show that Islam and modernity can go together.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was greeted by cheering crowds on a triumphant tour of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt recently.

Once an ally of President Assad, he has turned into one of the Syrian regime's most strident critics, threatening sanctions and deliberately offering sanctuary to Syrian opposition groups.

In Istanbul you will find members of the Syrian opposition demonstrating outside the Syrian Consulate after Friday prayers. A small clutch of protesters huddles, waving flags and calling for President Assad to go. The opposition members in exile are grateful for Turkey's willingness to give them a home but fearful of what may happen next.

"There is a very dangerous situation in Syria," says Omar Shawad of the Syrian National Council. "President Assad has no friends anymore, except perhaps Iran. So he has no exit and that means he'll fight to the end."



He added that if the outside world, with support from the Arab League and at the United Nations, did decide to take action, then it would be Turkey in the north and Jordan on Syria's southern border, who would be the key players:

"If there is an intervention in Syria," he said, "It would need to have a base, and that base can only be here, so Turkey is very important."

And Turkey has much at stake in the outcome. If somehow the Assad regime were to survive, there would surely be no way back to neighbourly relations. But getting drawn in to any kind of intervention that might mean Turkish troops on Syrian and therefore Arab soil might also be risky.

'Soft power'

But it is not just Turkey's political rhetoric and its potential for military action that enhance its projection of power. There is also 'soft power', cultural exports which are strengthening links with neighbours in other ways.

On a film lot in the Istanbul suburbs, a set has been meticulously crafted to replicate interiors of the Ottoman Sultan's palace. The film crew is hurriedly adjusting the lighting; make-up artists are giving a final check to the cast. Concubines to the emperor shiver slightly in their satin gowns and filmy veils, waiting for the signal to start.

Suleiman the Magnificent is Turkey's latest wildly successful soap opera. Set during the 16th century, when the Ottoman Empire held sway over much of the Middle East, it is a rags to riches story, redolent with seething passions and secret politics.

The co-directors are two brothers, Yagmur and Durul Taylan. They believe that the appeal of the series lies in nostalgia, a harking back to a golden age."Everyone wants to get power. In Turkey we all want to feel like Suleiman," says Durul."Because we want to be a big and powerful country again," adds Yagmur. "You can feel it when you talk to people in Turkey today."


Date: 2015-12-24; view: 658


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