Turkish Culture Explained: How Ottoman Empire shaped cultural diversity in Turkey

Turkish culture is influenced by Greeks, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, Georgians, Kurds just to name a few.

This is unique and beautiful, and the reason for that was almost no threat of persecution in the Ottoman Empire. The Empire encouraged the mixing of cultures, some might call it the 'the original melting pot' of sorts.

In this episode, I will attempt to break down the cultural diversity of Turkey, and how the Ottomans were instrumental in developing it.

Let's start with the heart, the land itself, Anatolia and Thrace. These 2 regions are split into 7 smaller sub-regions, these are called Aegean, Mediterranean, Marmara, Black Sea, Central, Southeast and Eastern Anatolia.

The geography of the region plays a crucial role in its development. For example, the Black Sea area might give you Switzerland or Austria vibes, whereas the southeast might be hot like a Middle Eastern country.

The Aegean region is pretty much a carbon copy of Greece, but central Anatolia would tell a very different tale.

The cuisine, the music, the dances, the accents, the language, the traditions, the customs, all depend on geography. And when you have a land with 12 thousand years of recorded civilization history, geography is not something you can ignore.

Another reason why Turkey is so diverse is that it has been at the crossroads of different empires and civilizations throughout history, it's been even called the cradle of civilizations.

You really need to understand how Ottoman society functioned and behaved to understand modern Turkish culture came to be.

So, What are you saying Aladdin?

What I am saying is this, we all belong to this earth and the reason Turkish culture is so rich is thanks to the Ottomans who moulded and absorbed cultural heritage from the lands they ruled and conquered.

That’s why Turkish culture with its cities, architecture, language, religion, ethnicities, cuisine, music and traditions is so diverse.

That's why there's room for everyone in this country.

That's why whether you’re from a western culture or an eastern culture you’ll find that your culture left its mark here

And that's why when looking at Turkish or any other culture, one should look beyond the negativity on the internet and appreciate how multifaceted it is.

Thanks for watching and see you in the next one.


00:00 Intro
01:27 Geography
02:22 Cradle of Civilizations
03:09 Ottoman Cuisine
04:58 Architecture in Istanbul
05:33 Where did Turks come from?
06:06 Turkish language
06:24 How did Turks rule?

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