Where do you come from?

At 8 years of age in year 3 with Mrs Finlayson, we were taking a lesson on ancestors. She had a copy of the passenger list of the convicts from the First Fleet. This was 11 ships full of largely petty criminals arriving in Botany Bay in 1788 to colonize Australia. All the eager youngsters put up their hand for their teacher to trace their ‘ancestor’ based on last name. I didn’t get picked. Actually I didn’t really fit in. Everyone was blonde haired, blue eyed with easy to pronounce names. James, Amy, Sarah, Grant, Mark. I had dark hair, dark eyes and definitely not white skin. Back in those days kids used to throw dirt at us, call us names during weekly ‘little athletics.’ I don’t remember that but my mum does.

Fast forward to mid teenage years and the only thing I wanted to do was play my sports. I was good at it, no one interfered with me and it was my escape in so many ways. It was a time of discovering self and identity. My mum would remind us “you don’t know what kind of family you’re from” but I didn’t really care. All I wanted to do was listen to the top 40 hits on the radio and be ready to push down ‘record’ on the tape deck, play hockey and be cool.

And then I went on holiday to Turkey by myself in 2004 after everyone around me seemed to be singing praises of this country, and everything changed. My previous memories of Turkey were going to relatives houses, eating a lot of food, wandering at will and having a freedom your parents would never give you at home. But this Turkey I saw was like waking up to the Mediterranean sea on a summers day. Captivating, beautiful, shiny and deep. Shortly after, I bought a one way ticket to Ankara, (I was living in New York at the time) determined to stay just 2 years. That became 6 years and began what some of my friends call an obsession with all things Ottoman. That may not be accurate but that time did lead to finding out who I am and where I come from.

Sultan Murad IV
Portrait on display at the Military Museum, Istanbul

It turns out our first ancestor, the first “Dogramaci” was treasurer to Sultan Murad IV during the Baghdad campaign in 1638. Dogramaci Kara Mehmet ended up staying in what is now Iraq, or then Ottoman territory. This is why its difficult to answer the question ‘where are you from?’ What do I say? Iraq? I’m not Iraqi. Turkey? But I’m not from the borders of contemporary Turkey. Australia? I was born there but I’m not from there. I still get puzzled looks if I volunteer that answer. If I tell people I’m Ottoman, most won’t understand, some will think you are a snob and very few others give you a reassuring smile and nod.

What is certain is that my family is almost 400 years old. Down the line, the family is known mainly for my great uncle (Ihsan) and aunt (Emel), and their father, Ali who was a Pasha(Governor) during Ottoman rule, then after the end of the empire, a Senator in the Iraqi parliament. History became real and that depth and captivation of famliy started to take meaning. When you discover that you are connected to something far greater than just one or two generations, for me at least it inspired a sense of ownership and preservation. There are enough connections to places, relics as well as conduct transmitted down the line. Everyone speaks multiple languages, puts a premium on education and diplomatic connections are effervescent. So next time I’m chasing dreams and a past in Jerusalem, Bursa, Rhodes or Istanbul, or when I start telling Ottoman stories about palaces, mosques, people and places, you’ll understand why.

Rhodes: The Ottomans were there for almost 400 years, but you wouldn’t know it

During the past two years, I’ve spent a lot of my ‘free’ time delving into Ottoman history. This is the first in a series of posts about my adventures in discovering my Ottoman past and with it unearthing a rather spectacular history that is still largely closed off in the ‘West.’

In 1522, the Ottomans, after a six month siege and under Sultan Suleyman captured the island of Rhodes, from the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. These were knights descended from those who had taken part in the Crusades. The island was strategically significant because it sat on the trade route to Egypt, which then provided significant resources to the Ottoman treasury, particularly with the victory of the Ottomans over the Mamluks in 1517. It was also important, because Muslims, on pilgrimage to Mecca were being captured by the Knights and forced into servitude on the island. The Ottomans were custodians of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina and as possessing the Caliphate, were liable for the welfare of Muslims particularly within their empire. Sultan Suleyman intervened. The city in some places has seven sets of walls. The Ottomans tunneled under the moat, under the walls and sent poisonous gas through the tunnels when it was realised the Knights were also planning to meet them below the surface. The island remained under Ottoman control until 1912 when it was taken by the Italians, who then passed it onto the Germans, who passed it onto the British who, with the 11 other Dodecanese islands, handed control to the Greeks in 1947.

Conveniently, the very popular series ‘(Magnificent Century) – a Turkish soap/drama taking Turkey, the Middle East and the Balkans by storm – began broadcast when I lived in Doha in 2012, and from this series I learnt about the Ottoman capture of Rhodes. If you speak Turkish, the entire series is available online. Rhodes is only a one hour ferry ride from the south of Turkey, and at such proximity, it was time to go. When you read about Rhodes from its tourist guides, the Ottoman history is glossed over. Why? Has modern history led to a censorship of an Ottoman past?
Rhodes was not subject to mandatory population exchange which took place between Turkey and Greece in 1923. When I was in Rhodes and answered the locals “Turkey” when they asked where I was from, I was treated well, with warmth. However, the locals tell a different story. They tell a story of Rhodesian officials trying to push the Turks out of the island, with palpable tension.

A minority Turkish population resides on the island, which is only a one hour boat ride away from Turkey. This population speaks Turkish, are ageing and say they are being forced out by the Greeks. When they seek assistance from Turkey, they are responded to with, “you are not Turkish, you have a Greek passport.” With the aging and disappearance of a people, so too their remants, namely mosques and other cultural institutions built during the 390 years of Ottoman rule.

But what is the status of Turks on the island, and how are Turks treated in this society. What is taught about the Ottomans in Rhodes to the local children? The Knights of St John were on the island for 200 years. The Ottomans were there for nearly double that time, but when you stroll the streets of Rhodes, you see nothing that reflects this. What is promoted of the island and especially the old city. The walls and Palace of the Grand Master (of the Knights) are largely intact. The cannon balls left in the now grassed moats around the old city are Turkish and with some tunnels, are the only remaining hints of conquer or battle.

Prettiest picture of the year