Turks and Turkey

Turkish culture, nationalism and military prowess

Turks have invariably tried to be Persians, Arabs, Jews, Slavs, Hittite, and even Urartian. They do have a point; Turks are, generally speaking, more Greek, Armenian, Arab, Assyrian, Jewish and Kurdish than Turkic. Their language is thoroughly bastardized, containing more Arabic, Persian and Latin expressions than Turkish ones. Their script used to be Arabic; presently it is Latin, tomorrow... God knows what it will be. Their cuisine, that Europeans seem to love so much, is a combination of common Arabic, Armenian and Greek dishes. Their greatest intellectuals and artists have been Armenians and Greeks and their greatest architectural monuments have been the works of Armenians and Greeks. Though they have an Islamic heritage, they try to impress their European neighbors by claiming that they are a bunch of secular atheists (as if that is supposed to be impressive). In short, Turks do not have a “national culture” to be proud of. Hence, they are in an ever ending search for belonging, which is why they are knocking on the “European” doors.

Turkey is a superficial nation fabricated by the Allied powers after the First World War that is held together today by primitive warlords, but is a state ruled by a corrupt class and built on the bones of the past. Europeans do not admire Turkish prowess in Arms. It is the numbers of the Turkish Armed Forces, and in particular, the levies that they have on reserve that are a factor always to be taken in account. In essence, Turkey is a paper tiger. Turkish military exploits are not as impressive when one considers the many circumstantial factors and sheer luck that has lead Turks into military victory throughout their bloody history (one cannot deny the fact that, the Mongol style of warfare utilized by the Turks, was a superior way to conduct warfare (and also modern) in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. When their way of warfare was surpassed by Technological Achievements of other countries, and they failed to modernize, they succumbed to the superior European technology). Granted, circumstances of history have always favored them. They seem to have always been in the right place at the right time. The first Turkic tribes, the Seljuk’s, were allowed into Asia Minor because of the centuries old rivalry between Armenians and Greeks that had utterly exhausted both peoples to a point where they were not able to defend their previously impregnable highlands. Moreover, the general disgust and disdain of the native Greek and Armenian populations toward the corrupt and self-indulgent aristocrats and clergy within Constantinople was the primary reason why so many of the natives, Greek and Armenian, converted to Islam and accepted Turkish hegemony, instead of protecting the Eastern Roman Empire.

The primary reason why the Ottomans rose to power was because their emergence coincided at about the same time when Mongol, Turkmen and Tatar hoards, having ravaged Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, were in a fast decline, thereby, giving the Ottomans an ideal opportunity to “fill in the vacuum”. Moreover, two centuries of senseless bloodshed within the Levant during the Crusades had dispirited and weakened the European nations to a point that they could not check Ottoman expansion. However, when the Europeans did get their act straight, such as when the Poles defeated the large Ottoman Army at the gates of Vienna, the Turks proved to be no match against the European military (to be honest and objective, the Ottoman Army was not really suited to operate in the cold climate of Northern Europe, and what is more, they lacked the European adaptability and professionalism to adapt themselves and subsequently operate under any climate, in the manner that the Legions used to, for instance. Also, Kanuni Suleyman’s supply lines were stretched way too thin, and lacking an adequately professional Logistics Department, their Army operated way below its peak efficiency). In hindsight, the most important achievements of the Ottoman Turks, was not military, but rather, administrative. The enthusiastic readiness of the primitive Turks in giving their non-Turkic subjects active roles within the Ottoman Empire was the single most fundamental reason why the Ottoman Empire was so successful. What’s more, Turks fully recognized and respected the martial and intellectual capabilities of the non-Turkic Christian subjects of their empire. This is why the Janissaries, for example, were comprised of Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Slavs.

Today, for some strange reason Europeans are still stinging from the defeat at Gallipoli. What happened within Gallipoli was more of an English military fiasco than a Turkish military achievement. And, the defeat of the Greek invasion force of 1922 was a result of the overconfidence and poor military planning of Greek commanders coupled with English, French, Italian and American betrayal. Turks have been very successful in exploiting their enemies’ faults and, Turkey being a powerful nation situated in a strategically important geo-political area, had geopolitics bended to her favor: everything was served to them cooked well-done... However, the invincibility of their military is a fable. The majority of the Turkish population is extremely unsophisticated and has a slave-like psychology that has served them well within wars of yesteryear. Moreover, generally speaking, the historic Turk, being less civilized than the native populations of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, fought with senseless ferocity and barbarity. The Turkish soldiers are a bunch of brainless robots that show absolutely no improvisational skills, creativity and/or adaptability. Their military doctrines are based on primitive military concepts, reflecting the intellectual capability of their troops. However, they do follow orders without question. Nevertheless, Turkish conscripts would be useless within modern warfare, especially, against relatively sophisticated foe (war, and especially, landlers war is always primitive).

While all this is true, one has extreme difficulties to answer the critical question: what we are going to do with the Turks? As Turkey certainly does not belong into the EU (or Europe in general) one has to accept the fact that Turkey is a rapidly growing country which exerts a lot of demographic pressure upon Europe. As a Fortress Europe does not work anymore (if it ever did is another question), Europeans will have to find a way to keep them in Turkey. As long as there still is a big economical gap, that will be next to impossible. For, is it just what Europe needs... 80 million Muslims? Europe does not need more Muslims, it needs less Muslims. Turkey is an Asiatic country, which the average German or Swede does not need. Multiculturalism simply does not work anywhere in the world. Europeans need to preserve their culture, not to destroy it gradually.