I went through all the comments about the site and there was something that surprised me a lot:the lack of historic knowledge by most Turkish visitors to the web. I don't really know what goes on in Turkish schools but I suspect historic education is biased in favour of a pro-Turkish interpretation of history. It is obvious that dictatorial regimes try to embellish past errors and mistakes. I suppose Turkey is a state that has recently become a democratic country and therefore people are still suffering the manipulations of dictators such as Kemal Atatürk and his followers, only interested in creating a strong Turkish identity regardless of minorities or different viewpoints.
I think it is vital for Turkey to accept its errors if it wants to become a full member of a democratic Europe. Self-criticism is not a sign of weakness but rather of strength. A clear example of that is Post Second World War Germany, accepting its responsibility on the Holocaust and soon after becoming one of the most respected open-minded democracies in the world. I think countries are like people. It's easier to blame others for your mistakes, but if you manage to accept your responsibility for those mistakes you grow as a person and are able to take the reins of your own change. I believe that Turkey is terribly frightened of coping with its recent past: the Armenian genocide, the expulsion of the Greeks, the repression of minorities, etc. No wonder! There are fewer countries with a worse human rights record!. There is this kind of historic amnesia that allows the Turks to keep blaming others because if they got to know what their ancestors did they could feel really ashamed.
Self-criticism implies looking into the mirror and see reality as it is; it's tough but the prize is enormous: you know who you are. The opposite is self-deceit and blindness, and history is full of self righteous fanatics who never wanted to look themselves in the face. I once went to Turkey and got very angry because the guides never told us about the Byzantine past. They kept telling us that the ruins were Lydian or Hittite or Roman, but never Byzantine. They put us off from going and visit the old Byzantine churches because they told us they were in ruins. The Ottoman remains were the best, according to them. It actually reminds me of what happened in my country, Spain, while dictator Franco was alive: everything Christian was valuable and worth studying, reading or visiting; the strong Muslim tradition was frowned upon and never taught at school. Now we know that our Arab legacy helped shape who we are and some of the best traits in our character, cuisine, art, literature, way of life, etc. come from that legacy.
Dear Turkish brothers: be brave and accept your past. There is much to gain and nothing to lose. Truth is the only thing that can make us all free.
suggestions=Hi there, i am american and all i have to say is a Big thank to all of you who creata this site, cause it helped me a lot in my project for a lesson of mine. You see, i am student in NorthPark univercity of Chicago state. Secondly, i would like to say that everyone in the whole world knows the truth, everyone knows that everything started fron Greece, everyone apart from the Turks, unfortunatelly. According to all the people here in America, Roman Empire was a Greek Empire, after all everyone who ruled that Empire was speaking and writting Greek! Anyway, I curse all the Turks who stopped the Greeks of developing their great culture, a culture that transfered to the whole world. I would like to say hello to all the Greeks who should know that here in America we do not forget and one day we will give to the Turks a great lesson! By the way, did you know that in the begining of the previous century the word "Turk" was synonimous to "sucker"? A Turk would be very angry if someone called him "Turk". Fare well my friends!
nazis+greeks+turks+americans+kurds+armenians+ALL..... but somes dont want to know truth.the truth is turks are not the barbarian and the did not genocide to ermanians.they jus kicked out the armenians in their land.Nazis genocided the jews.These are different thinks.again you and we know all truths but somes not.i love greeks,germans.......fuck all these bullshits.just live how you want..C'ya.
suggestions=A bit of a simplification, there were Hittites, Lykians, Cilicians, and a whole lot of other people there before and as well as the Greeks. Definitly Ionia, Aeolia & Caria were Greek and apart from a lot of Roman building vitually everything post 4th C AD is Greek.
I spent about 7 weeks there and I agree with you all the good things are mainly Greek, Roman or Byzantine. The place has been on a slide ever since the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
All the ancient & Byzantine historical sites nothing to do with the Turks apart from being exploited to get Tourist dollars or in the past used as quarries. I have also noticed they only restore the sites they can charge Tourists to see. Even Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome are neglected, and the Great Land walls of Theodosius are falling to pieces. I saw some Turks living opposite the wall dumping their garbage in one of the towers.
I've been to Constantinople, the Chersonese, Troy, Kappadokia, Antalya, Myra, Caesaria, Xanthos, Telmessos, Kaunos,Patara, Ephesos, Halikarnassos and all are not Turkish.
It's funny that most Turks say The city is not Constantinople it's Istanbul. They don't even know that Istanbul is derived from the Greek Istan pol(is) - In the City.
I just happened to see this site when I was searching material for Constantinople and thought this site was dedicated to the memory of the Queen of Cities. In fact, the pictures and historic information was pretty well. But when I visited the forum, I noticed some nasty debates were going on. Believe it or not, as a Turk, I am an admirer of Roman and Byzantian history and culture. And I regret that so few have remained to our day from these great civilizations. Yes, we Turks have not kept them safe, throughout the decades, and its a pity. But Turkey is a Republic, just like Greece and deserves better judgement from the Greek people. We, Turks do not hate you. We want to love you. But most of us become angry of you because some of you make childish things like putting Greek flags over photos, mentioning Armenian massacre in WWI or some other sorry events. They are history and we all feel sorry about what happened in the past. But all these do not have any relation with the new Turkish Republic.
The Ottomans were in control and we all know that they are not the most humanist empire in history. Yes, they sacked Constantinople, killed those who surrendered, raped the women, children and even the nuns, desecrated the churches, destroyed valuable icons, put the holy places to fire. I cannot imagine what they might have done to Emperor Constantine if they captured him on the battlefield. But all these true events are not present in Turkish history records. All we are told was Mehmet II's glorious entrance to the city, and his order of leaving the people and the capital unharmed. Of course. this is from the Turkish point of view, and its wrong. But what about the Greek vision? What about still claiming Istanbul as a Greek city? Is it totally objective? Nobody is perfect. We have our mistakes and you have yours. So it is time to put aside our differences and understand each other. I want to say one more thing to those Turkish barbarians who wrote here all the sexual literature they know of. YOU CANNOT BE TURKS. You are a bunch of primitive monsters thats all. I'm mostly embarrased of what you wrote here. You know, you live a lie. If you want to know what happened in 1453 or in 1915 go and search for some historical content on the net. I am always seeking the truth. And the truth hurts me. My mother's grandfather killed a young Armenian girl despite her pleas to save her and marry her, because he was ordered to do so. All his life he regretted and blamed himself of his crime. I hope, one day we (Turks and Greek) will live in this great city in harmony and bring back it's shining glory.
PS. Byzantian Empire is Roman, not Greek. It may have been influenced by Hellenistic life style over the centuries, but the Empire was still Roman. Oguz from Istanbul (as well as Constantinople and Byzantium)
suggestions=A great source of photos which helped me to imagine the Constantinople... of the Greek and Byzantine era, when it was the capital of Imperium Romanum. However, you and you friends are insisting on forgetting a truth: The date *1204 AD makes sense for you? I hope so. That's why when the siege began in 1453, the people of Istanbul preferred to be living under Turkish rule instead of that of the Catholics... The benevolence of the Turks, which can be seen as a strategic mistake, now lets you to talk in such a pathetic way. Do you think there would be so many churches remained, as they are if we were not benevolent? We changed Hagia Sophia in to a museum, as a step to get rid of all the possible idiotic problems between our religions, though as you know it's a Church-Mosque. Or do you think that your Patriarch would remain as Patriarch even after more than 500 years in his position, if we were not benevolent? The Patriarch has all the titles, except as a political ruler, of the Byzantine Emperor, given by Mehmed the Conqueror. Would it be possible do you think? If it was the Greeks that conquered Constantinople from the Turks, they would not show the same benevolence, this is the absolute truth. You may have your so-called Emperor Theodoros IX of the so-called Lascaris-Comnenos Dynasty in San Francisco or dream about the so-called enosis and the Megalo Idea. We'll not liberate the wonderful city of the Goddess of War and Wisdom - Athens nor your fellows invade The Centre of the World - the Queen of all of the cities of the world from New Zealand to Alaska - Istanbul. Actually, if you look into the history carefully, you'll see that the Greek civilization does not belong to here, too, in the way you understand the historical facts. The Greeks, like many other people, have migrated from Asia during very ancient times... Go and check it carefully if you don't believe me... I hope you also know that the Patriarch don't like what you are doing... My dear friends, stop losing your time with trying to get Istanbul and other ancient Greek colonies back, work for making Greece a state that can rival the United Kingdom or Germany or Russia. I don't know, even the USA. If you want to work on Constantinople in some way, then do it in the way that you should do! Make researches on it, study on it as a civilisation, as your past, Not as a dream. It's truly impossible or very difficult to find somethings about the Byzantine Constantinople on the Internet. Work for that. Accept the truth that you don't have the chance to get Istanbul like we won't get Greece from you. There is a trick being played between our nations. If you know your history very well, you'll be quick to see that it was the tactic of the Byzantine Emperors. We can work together better when we endure our hostilities between our nations... Remember the date *1204 AD. You'll be betrayed sometime... If you don't listen to me, listen to Einstein, who said "Don't forget your past, plan your future but live the moment." Stop living in history start doing something useful for today. By the way, I have many Greek originated friends in Istanbul, what I see is that you don't have a chance to get their favor. They won't support you at all. Guess why? Due to the true benevolence of the Turks! But I think it's going to take thousands of years you to understand this. How unfortunate: As a teenager, it should not be my job to save you from ignorance...
*For the ones who have no idea about 1204 AD - The Fourth Crusade took place between 1202-1204 and it was aiming to invade the Holy Land, like all of the 8 crusades. The Jewel of Europe was the best at that time: It had the greatest fortifications, Hagia Sophia had the grandest dome of the world and although the Empire was getting smaller each passing day, it was stil the richest and the greatest. There were about 40 years for the Mongolian Invasion of Asia and Europe... On contrary, Europe was very poor, plague was everywhere and the Popes were telling the people that "their words were not belonging to them but belonging to God" (Innocentius III). On their way, the crusade had to pass Constantinople and hail the emperor. The city was in gold everywhere, impressive and imposing with its wealth... Guess what? That crusade decided not to go to the Holy Land but invade Constantinople! This betrayal led the Empire split into four pieces, the Despots of Mora, south of Greece, The Empire of Trebizond, the Empire of Nicea and the Empire of Latins at Constantinople. When Mikhail VIII liberated the city in 1261, the city was not in very good condition and began to decline as a Byzantine city.
To sum up what I want to say, there are Turks in Greece and Greeks in Turkey. We lived peacefully for centuries, and just after the French Revolution, we became enemies again because others didn't want us to live in peace together. I've been to many parts of Greece and Greek Islands - Thesalonikia, Alexandrople, Chios, Rhodoes, Herakleion, Chania, Lesbos, Samos, Kos, Thera... and met many Greek people and we acted friendly to each other. I don't know what to say anymore. I hope my writings will be online.
suggestions=Ben size selamla baslamiyorum cunku selama degecek insan degilsiniz ben kücük yunanlilar tek seyi ile taniyorum ne oldugu ise yunan karilarinin nasil sex yaptiklarini sizde bilirsiniz cünkü serefsizler sizde yunansiniz siz götten sikilmeye aliskin bir milletsiniz sizi zamaninda siktik yine sikecegiz götünüzün kasintisi okadar cok mu artti o kadarmi cok yarak istiyorsunuz bizim ISTANBUL´u feth ederken yunanlilari siktigimiz yalan ama sizin karilarinizi bizlere sattiginiz dogru sizin karilarinizin cogunun götünde TÜRK dölü var bunu inkar edemezsiniz sizi zamaninda nasil sike sike yiktik ise zamani gelince yine sike sike yikacagiz buna emin olun köpekler bile yal yedigi tasa sicmaz daha gecen yil alman nazilerin elinden iki yunani kurtaran TÜRK´ler degilmiydi eninde sonunda gebereceksiniz biz hic bir zaman sizden kacmadik kacmayiz cesaretiniz varsa yüreginiz varsa meydanlara inin derdinizi orada söyleyin her nerede olursa biz haziriz.
Hi, tonight i visited your site and was thoroughly impressed by what i saw. Although i myself am not of Hellenic descent, i am a strong admirer of the culture of the Greek and Byzantine civilization which i believe is the true creator and protector of western civilization. Always i have admired the culture, intelligence, creativity, piety, strength, determination and courage of the people of the Hellenic world. Finally there is a site dedicated in its own right to the great Byzantine Empire which makes a proper effort to give it the coverage and credit which this nation truly deserves.
I am a dedicated student of history and, though i am only 17, have read widely about byzantium as well as a range of other civilizations related to its history, such as the roman empire, persia, the spread of the arabs and islam, russian civilization, the turks and the crusades. As an admirer of Byzantine history who wishes also for the TRUTH to be understood i regularly read and revise many sources of history, both modern and also works of byzantine authors themselves, such as the commentaries of Prokopios and the Alexiad of Anna Komnena.
I see your site is very well organised and contains a multitude of areas which are well documented. However, some areas could be improved and i feel it is here i could make a contribution, free of charge, to allowing the truth to be told so that Byzantine civilization can be enjoyed in its true glory. In particular i would be happy to compose pieces to add to the emperors section, in which unfortunately the lives and reigns of only a few emperors are documented. I would also be happy to offer to write and edit in other areas and to offer advice, again free of charge, to contibute as fully as i can to making this site as great as the civilization which it represents. Please reply soon.
Fellow Byzantinist, Brad.
senin ananý,bacýný,sülaleni, eþiktekini,beþiktekini, 7 ceddini siken kahraman bir helal süt emmiþ TÜRK' ten selamlar... yaptýðýn site tam senin gibi bir orospu evladýna yakýþýr bir site olmuþ, hiç merak etme ezelden beri sizi siken ve sikmeye devam edecek olan barbar türkler avrupanýn kapýsýna dayandý yani suyun ýsýndý orospunun evladý...
suggestions=I think that sites like this do a great service to humanity (including Turkey). Humanity needs to know what happened and the Turkish people should learn and accept the crimes, genocides and atrocities their ancestors committed. Only when they assume responsibility and extend a sincere apology to ALL affected (Greeks, Armenians, Kurds, etc.) then the world can move on. Instead they are continuing the "policy" of "fire and iron", the only practice their tribe has perfected.
No one "hates" Turkey or spreads propaganda. We all talk about peace and want it but it is Turkey who behaves like the bully of the region since 1100 A.D.
Of course it is NOT the Turkish people who are to blame but their government. But since the government is voted (is it really in Turkey though?) by the people, it is your responsibility -you the Turks- to modernize and democratize your nation.
It is extremely sad to see that you are being taught a history so different than any other European (and civilized) country. You must wake up and realize than unless you shape-up you will always be alienated and remain the outcast of the rest of the world.
Do not fool yourselves with the apparent USA support and backing. They do not care less for you (on the contrary they dislike your country's lack of achievement) all they want is to USE YOU for promoting their own interests. Without USA backing you would disintegrate in a matter of days to the tribal and multiethnic state you were before your "father" Kemal came into play. Indeed, how can a country adore and worship a person who is responsible for issuing orders facilitating the killing, raping, death-march, labor camps, stealing, (and many many more) inflicted on the Armenians, Greeks and other non-Turks throughout the centuries.
You are a constant menace to our region and will continue to destabilize it unless you GROW UP and realize that the world has changed.
Your hypocrisy is such that you take marvels of art, engineering, religious monuments etc and instantly baptize them as Turkish culture when your tribe is not known for ever creating culture, you were nomads and worriors. Most countries have left intact muslim mosques -some of them open and operating- for muslim people to excercise their religious rights. You have defaced the mosaics in Agia Sophia, written arabic/muslim all over the interior, prohibited the priests to perform services, and many many other insensitivites like erecting minares around it to make it look like a muslim mosque! You are unbelievable! Is this ever possible? Monuments are left as they were, preserved for the next generations to enjoy and respected as far as their cultural and religious context. But in Turkey everything non Turkish is treated as evil. How insecure one must be to be acting like this???
Please! Turkish people. Please take ownership and responsibility! Free your country from the military junta that operates under the cover and pretext of a democratic/parliamentary system.
You will be making a great service to the world and YOU above all!
PLEASE!!!
