next code: crossing | some basics
By Mirjana Selakov

European identity of the Turkey and the Turks has been denied from the West Europe in many cases, because of their different history, religion and culture. But, can one say that Europe is constituted only by the catholic-Christian religion, a uniform culture and a continuously identical history and that this creates a certain "same" identity for all European Union member states?

Zeki Fa‘ik Izer, Ikilap, Revolution, 1933

According to this, the concept of identity becomes something historically „freezed", statically understood and judged. In the year 1923 Turkey began with the revolutionary changes in sense of the European clarification. After proclaiming the republic, separation of state and religion was done successfully. In the following years the "west orientation" of Turkey was done by different reforms. With the abolishment of the sultanate as well as with the abolishment of the Caliphates as highest instance the Shari, with the admission of the Laicism, with the separation of religion and state, with the first constitution of the Turk Republic, with a justice reform, education reform, writing reform (instead of Arabic a Latin script), with the gender equalization, the voting rights for women and with a number of other, extensive changes.

Eugène Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le peuple 1830

The 1th of January 1926 follows in Turkey on, the last day of the year 1341. President Mustafa Kemal, called Ataturk (" Father of the Turks"), brought by the Parliament the appropriate law only few days before. Through the reform of the calendar the western Christian time calculation replaced those of the Ottoman Empire. Like a symbol of the modernization is the "skip" from the medieval date/time into the 20th century.

The traditional Islamic time calculation begins with the year of the removal of the prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina. In addition it follows a lunar calendar, whose year is shorter than the 365 days of the sun/solar calendar. The Sultan reformed the Ottoman calendar in year 1873. The Islamic lunar calendar was adapted to the western solar year. But the time calculation from Mohammed obtained too.

Thus today several time calculations exist in Turkey. A calendar counts the time from 1453, when Istanbul was occupied. Another calendar, the Islamic one, counts the time from 1423. And there is a Gregorian calendar too.

So we are heading the exhibition "Wie spaet ist es?" | "What’s the time?" [link]

(Selakov: Home)

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