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What have the Ottomans ever done for us?

The best thing they ever did was leave. Not by their own free will either.

A picture speaks 1000 words.

You’re welcome.

OK, OK. I’ll get my coat.

Maximus wrote:What have the Ottomans ever done for us?

The best thing they ever did was leave. Not by their own free will either.

A picture speaks 1000 words.

The Turks have centuries of experience in managing their own affairs and trying to manage the affairs of others but they can hardly make any progress.

Compared to Cypriots, who only have about 45 years of managing their own affairs (since 1974) they have made remarkable progress in economics, standard of living and domestic and foreign affairs.

Turkish influence has a negative effect for those being influenced. Its best kept at arms length or avoided like the plague.

Never mind what the Ottomans did not do anything great for Cypriots, the question needs to be asked is, what good did they do to the Turks and Turkey? All empires which ruled other countries stole a lot of wealth from those countries and brought them to their own country in the form of minerals, gold, textile and even tea, all from very cheap foreign labour. Let’s look at where Japan, Italy, Britain are today vs. where Turkey is? What monumental structures did the Ottomans leave behind in Turkey for the future generation to show off their achievements? Look what the Egyptians left behind, the Aztecs, all ancient civilizations in Asia built and left behind beautiful monuments and so on. I can’t think of any great monument left by the Ottoman Empire where one can visit in Turkey.

Kikapu wrote:I can’t think of any great monument left by the Ottoman Empire where one can visit in Turkey.

You can not think of any or none exists ?

Just as a general reminder this thread was posted in the jokes section of the forum.

Kikapu wrote:Never mind what the Ottomans did not do anything great for Cypriots, the question needs to be asked is, what good did they do to the Turks and Turkey?

Ok, I will say that Turkish cuisine is very good.

The Ottomans brought the best chefs in from across the empire. Over time, they managed to concoct something quite magnificent. The desserts are also quite interesting if you have a very sweet tooth.

They brought us doner kebab too, which feeds a lot of drunks in Europe and pays the wages for lots of Turks.

They also managed to sell them fridges. More Turks are able to store their cool stuff now than ever before. According to Erdogan, this is one of the reason why the Turkish economy is booming.

erolz66 wrote:

Kikapu wrote:I can’t think of any great monument left by the Ottoman Empire where one can visit in Turkey.

You can not think of any or none exists ?

Just as a general reminder this thread was posted in the jokes section of the forum.

Yes, it is a joke.

A thread like this wouldnt get much traction in any other section.

erolz66 wrote:

Kikapu wrote:I can’t think of any great monument left by the Ottoman Empire where one can visit in Turkey.

You can not think of any or none exists ?

Just as a general reminder this thread was posted in the jokes section of the forum.

Yes of course, there are some structures the Ottomans left behind, structures like the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, The Safranbolu Houses which I have visited them all over the years, but I really do not consider them as being great monuments.

Yes, it is in the joke section, but this topic has come up before on other threads as well.

The Blue mosque copied the archetectural innovation of Ayia Sofia, namely the arch design to sustain the load of the roof without the need for columns in the middle However it was built what 1300 years later?! Just to satisfy some Sultan who wanted something bigger...

NB.The same principle is applied today in building big open space warehouses without any columns in the middle.