During the Eighth century, under the pressure of the Mongolians led by Ghenkis Khan, four thousand Turkomans swept over the steppes of Central Asia towards Asia Minor. At first Shamanists, they became Muslims when they established themselves in Anatolia. After numerous conquests, their chief, Othman, (‘Ottoman’ comes from Othman, which will later on become Osman) proclaimed himself Emperor and founded the Ottoman dynasty, in 1299.
Until His Imperial Majesty the Sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin left his Empire, in 1922, thirty-six emperors succeeded at the head of the Ottoman Empire, all descendants of Othman.
Such a line of descent over six hundred years is unique. In most European States, women have ruled at one point or the other.
In 1453, Emperor Mehmed II the Conqueror seized Constantinople, then capital of the Byzantine Empire, and named it Istanbul. One century later, the Emperor Selim the First declared himself caliph, supreme chief of the Muslims, successor of Mohammed. Thereafter, the rulers held the temporal and the spiritual powers concurrently.
What I mean to point out is that in European literature the Ottoman Emperors are referred to as Sultans. In fact the Ottoman Emperors were Padishas, which means that they were all at once Emperors and Popes - to use European terminology.
At its peak, during the rule of Mustafa II (1695 – 1703), the Ottoman Empire encompassed a territory that stretched from North Africa to the Balkans, extending over Eritrea, the Near East, most of the Middle East as well as all the countries along the Black Sea.
In 1909, overwhelmed and harassed by the Great Powers, His Imperial Majesty Mehmed V was forced to yield his power and his authority to the Young Turks, a movement of students and officers - Jemal, Talat and Enver, also called the Triumvirate - prepared a revolution and overthrew (deposed) Emperor Abdulhamid II. In 1912, the Triumvirate joined the Germans against the Russians, the French and the English. On August 2nd 1914, secret negotiations between the Young Turks and Berlin led to a military alliance treaty directed against Russia. As soon as he heard about it, Emperor Mehmed V declared the Empire militarily neutral.
Unfortunately, it was already too late. On November 5th, 1914, the Allies declared war to the Ottoman Empire, at the end of which they dismembered it.
What most people do not know is that the Ottoman Emperors granted equal opportunity to all their subjects (there were over twenty different ethnic groups in Istanbul alone), may they be Anatolians, Kurdish, Armenian, Jewish, Christian or Muslim -- I develop this particular aspect of the Ottoman culture in RESPECT, the following chapter. On the other hand, the Young Turks were Nationalists and wanted to give the Empire to the Anatolians (the future Turks) at the expense of all other ethnic groups. With this in mind, you will more easily understand the following paragraph.
The Young Turks ran off to Berlin where an Armenian commando killed Jemal and Talat since they were, with Enver, responsible of the tragic Armenian deportation during which numerous Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire died (1915-1916). The USA government source puts the number of deported people to 486,000. Salahi Sonyel claims that 700,000 Armenians were deported. According to Arnold Toynbee at least 1,000,000 people comprised the deportation and massacre, with the likelihood that the real number was probably 1,200,000 or more. According to Arnold Toynbee at least 50 percent [500,000 - 700,000] would be casualty of the deportations. According to Turkish sources a total of 438,758 people were “relocated” and 10% died during the relocation.
The way the Turkish Republic treats its Kurdish minority is symptomatic of the Young Turk ideology. During the Ottoman Empire, the Kurds were Ottoman citizens, just as the Armenians, the Anatolians and the Slavs were.
When Emperor Mehmed VI Vahdeddin ascended the throne, all was lost. The French, the English and the Italians occupied Istanbul and the Dardanelles, the Greeks, Izmir. Out of desperation, Emperor Mehmed VI received General Mustafa Kemal pasha, whom he trusted, and told him: «You have rendered great services to the State. The services that you will render now are much more important than the others. Pasha, you can save the country! » Kemal answered: «Have no fear. I have understood Your Majesty’s point of view. I shall not for an instant forget your orders. »
Armed with the authority the Emperor had granted him, as Brutus knifed Julius Caesar, Kemal abolished the Sultanate, on November 1st, 1922. Two weeks later, Mehmed VI, the 36th Sultan and Caliph, left the capital on a British ship. On November 19th, 1922, the Grand National Assembly elected Abdulmejid II Caliph. Less than a year later, Mustafa Kemal was proclaimed president of the republic of Turkey. Soon, with the agreement of Parliament, he abolished the Caliphate. All the members of the Ottoman family were exiled, including the 35 Imperial Princes. Until 1951, the Imperial Princesses were unwelcome in Turkey; the Imperial Princes were outcasts in Turkey until 1974. Of those exiled, only two Imperial Princes were still alive until not long ago. His Imperial Highness Prince Osman Ertogrul passed away, the 23rd September 2009, in Istanbul. The previous year, my father, His Imperial Highness Prince Burhaneddin Djem expired, the 31st October 2008, at Saint Luke's Hospital, in New York City. Hélène and I were at his side during his last moments.
My father and I were extremely close; he taught me most of what I know about the history of the Ottoman Dynasty.He also spent at least ten years studying in various Universities in the United States. However, while I was more interested in Science, Psychology, Sociology and Politics, my father who had spent most of his active life as a US Army Secret operative, was most interested in History, Geography and Politics.
My father used to say: “It took 700 years for the Ottoman Dynasty to create a vast Empire and only ten years for the French, the Russians, the English with the help of the Young Turks to destroy that Empire.” Mustapha Kemal banished the members of the Ottoman Dynasty from their Country, confiscating all their belongings, their lands, their fortune, treasures, palaces, everything, dismissing them by sending them abroad without money or even passports. To this day, the Turks spend their time praising their illustrious past but they never gave a penny to a member of the Ottoman Dynasty, some of which died of hunger and lived in utter poverty. It was only in 1974 that the Turkish government permitted the Ottoman princes to visit Turkey. This is unique in history. Tourists come from all over the world every year to visit the numerous Ottoman palaces and mosques which contribute to Turkey’s economy, each visitor having to pay an entrance fee.
Just to give you an idea about how similar situations are taken care of in other countries:
On the 12th of November 1918, the Bavarian King Ludwig III declared that he ended the 738-year rule of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria. Ever since, thousands of visitors pay a fee to visit the castles of Ludwig II and each year the German government allots a percentage of that income to the Wittelsbach family.
