Two Objections to Our Ottoman Heritage and Their Answers

1396 Battle of Nicopolis (Niğbolu)**

Below is a translation of a blog post of mine in Turkish. I feel the need to write this introductory paragraph before the actual text because it may sound odd to foreigners how come some Turks can claim to be something other than descendants of Ottomans. It is indeed strange, but it has tangible roots in in the history of the last 90 years or so on account of the fact that, since around 1925, authoritarian Westernization and secularism, coupled with a continuation of Western-style nationalism of the hard-line type widespread in the 1930s, has dominated the Turkish educational system and politics under the official jumble of Europe-inspired opinions.

Objection: “When most members of the Ottoman dynasty have gone out to Europe and the like, how can we be descendants of the Ottomans?”