Do Turks feel proud or ashamed of the Ottoman empire?

Question

With the numerous crimes Ottomans hold on their account, do modern Turks feel proud of their ancestors?

nakaibj, am not an American, silly.

Answer 1

They are our ancestors and the founders of a great empire.

Why should we be ashamed of them? I personally am very proud.

ps: Please state some of the "crimes" but not before comparing them to your own countries history.

Answer 2

Why should they feel ashamed???
Do Americans feel ashamed of slavery or killing the natives? Vietnam? Iraq????
No, they call their country the "land of the free".
Do Germans feel ashamed of Nazi crimes?
Well, they should, but why the hell do so many neo Nazis exist then?? Germans would say that they feel proud of their nation working so hard after the 2nd world war.
Do Spanish feel ashamed of exploiting the whole South American continent and killing the natives??? Do they feel ashamed of inquisition and killing the Jewish population??? Do they feel bad about Franco??
Generally Spanish would answer that Franco wasn’t that bad at all and that at least they brought culture and religion to South America. I’m sure that the people were very happy in those days with all that...
Ask the Israelis how they feel when there are killed children in Palestine??
And then go to see the Palestine and ask if they feel proud when a suicide killer kills women and children in Tel Aviv!!!
Ask the white South Africans if they are happy with their recent history…
What do you think conquests are made of?
The history of all countries and the borders we know today are the results of wars and conflicts and blood... the blood of the innocent of course, because most of the people who have died and die nowadays in wars are not the leaders and politicians...
Do you have any idea of the Ottoman Empire was like?
It’s the history of a nation and I think that everybody should know his own history and be proud of it and learn out of it...
And why should somebody feel guilty for war crimes he didn’t commit?
Sorry, but I think you should feel only guilty about what you are doing. Maybe you can feel ashamed about what your family members have done… but it’s not your fault.
What all nations should do is learn out of the mistakes of worldwide history and be aware not to commit the same mistakes & crimes again in the future. It’s an education matter.

Answer 3

I believe we must not focus on the past but on the present and the future... Needless to say that this should be very convenient to americans, whose ancestors where just criminals released from english and french prisons and granted the opportunity to populate the new continent... extinguishing the natives... Speaking about the present, do americans feel proud or ashamed of their crimes all over the world? What about Guantanamo, what about the Iraqi people massacre and the robery of the Iraqi museums, what about Vietnam, what about their denial to agree for less polution of the environment?

Answer 4

By grace of allah i am muslim from pakistan......but what i feel is that the ottomans and the mughals are a sheer source of disgrace for muslims. All the emperors of these so called great empires were perverted sots and dirty womanizers.illegal expansion, Forcing sex slavery, spending public money on harlots....ottomans were even worst,,,as there emperors were a product of illicit sexual activity and adultery....none of these emperors spent a single penny to build a unicersity rather useless buildings like taj mahal $ blue mosque. They w

Answer 5

The Ottomans have done nothing other political powers didn't. If there should be shame to be felt, it should be felt by almost everybody, probably you included. (Probably, because I don't know where you are from.)

I like to learn what Ottomans were like. If they didn't lag behind in techology and commerce, you would be hailing a present Ottoman empire along with the American one now. (And don't get me started about America not being an empire.)

Answer 6

Hi,

I am agree with Ipek.
They are our Ancestors. Why we feel ashamed of the Ottoman Empire ? I did not understand...

Please visit that site, You will know lots of thing Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Sultans,

http://www.osmanli700.gen.tr/english/sultans.html

Regards

Answer 7

A little bit of both. We have the pride in having such glorious ancestors but the killing of the christian subjects of the empire is a topic of an ongoing debate. The armenian gangs were a major threat to national security, attacking logistics convoys, sabotaging communication lines, massacring turkish villagers. I don't think the outcome would be different if native americans revolted while USA was fighting in WW2. The natives would all have been deported to mexico. The history has to be investigated really carefully since armenians are no angels as well but there certainly are crimes conducted by the dictatorial triumvirate of the three pashas.

Answer 8

good question... ı'll go with both.

ı am proud because they used to be so strong and had the greatest areas ! but ı am ashamed because their lazyness make them lost whole lands they had and they didn't even care to follow the new technologies going on in Europe.

but still ı am proud of being Turk, especially when ı was far away from my country

Answer 9

i cant be ashamed of something that i didnt do. i am proud of Ottoman for being so strong for centuries and i am proud they were very respectful to other cultures unlike English Empire

Answer 10

everything should be examined during its own tıme line .
But crimes ?
If we had assimilate or did any crime more than 15 countries must talk Turkish language and had been Muslim now. Like Greek , Bulgaria ... etc.
Just now we try to speak English.