Ottomans, their Turkish descendants… Policies, massacres against Muslims, Christians-5

The Ottomans and the Levant… Historical tales full of pain

YAHIA AL-HABIB/ NEWS DESK

The joy of the people of the Levant did not last long with the fall of the rule of the Mamluk of Turkish origin, where they were surprised by the most depressing Turkish forms, which are embodied by the Ottomans whose crimes were beyond imagination, since the occupation of al-Sham in 1516, they brought the poles and distributed them in every neighborhood to spread terror among the population.

Horrors and tragedies in Damascus’ neighborhoods

Most of the Damascene neighborhoods and monuments hide a historical tale revealing the ugly face of the Ottoman state and its descendants who are now languishing in its heritage. In al-Marja square in the heart of the Syrian capital Damascus, there is a large sari that will remain a witness to the crimes of the Turks in Syria, this sari became the most important of the history of the Ottoman Empire. The greatest atrocities used in the execution of political opponents called the pole or" Khazouq".

The Ottomans had displaced the inhabitants of their homes and looted them as well, and imposed taxes on the population and began to collect agricultural lands, and abused the people and issued strict decrees not to ride horses or donkeys in the presence of Muslims inside the cities.

Throughout four centuries of tyranny, looting and violations, it has become clear that the Turks are a people who live on these crimes and not a manufacturer of civilization. Their state has always been the authority of fines, taxes, looting and royalties, they did not excel in trade or industry, and an abundant share of their curse fell on the Levant from 1516 until their departure in 1918.

The Damascene historian Shams al-Din Ibn Tulun was contemporary to the tragedies, he was an eyewitness on the violations committed by the Ottoman occupation and he talked about what he saw in his book "Disagreement of lovers in the events of time."

After the battle of Marj Dabik in 1516, in which the Mamluk were defeated by the Ottomans, Sultan Salim entered Aleppo, and his first action was to plunder the money of Aleppo's citadel and the inhabitants' money until it became one hundred and eighteen loads of money. The urban population has delivered the city to avoid the evil of the soldiers, but this handing over has not saved them from looting.

The Ottomans have no law nor knowledge ... killing is the master of judgments

Since the beginning of the entry of Sultan Salim I to the Levant, he expressed his disdain for scholar and students, Ibn Tulun says, "The king of the Roman Salim Khan did not gather the students and scholars of the Levant in Damascus, and met with the Franks and the consul of the Franks.

"On Tuesday, the Roman armies attacked Damascus and its environs, and many people were taken out of their homes, and their belongings and supplies were thrown, and they were subjected to unprecedented hardship that the people of Damascus had never not suffered.” Ibn Tulun said.

The Ottomans era was characterized by the law of killing. The pole was their best way to implement their barbaric provisions that violate all laws.

Ibn Tulun says: "The Ottomans brought the pole to the Levant, they punished a thief with the pole then they sent the pole to every neighborhood."

In every place where Sultan Salim I settled, curse befell on the population, they looted the houses and confiscated even food and made fun of the people to serve the Sultan, Ibn Tulun said: "The people of Qaysariat al-Qawassin were deported in Damascus, converting to the kitchen of Sultan Salim.

According to some books, Sultan’s order to confiscate large portion of wheat and barley from the homes of the people of Damascus, and the reporter "Daftardar" wrote to every ten villages a decree to bring their heads and notables with the servants and requested the yield of that year, so the population of the villages were damaged of that, as Ibn Tulun mentioned.

The Ottomans canceled the ownership of the agricultural land and declared it to be the property of the Sultan. Despite the protest of the people and the submission of possession documents, the Ottoman military judge did not listen. During Salim's settlement, the people were harnessed to hold the horses and others in service. The Turks counted the population and imposed a tax on everyone, this is the first time that taxes were imposed on Muslims.

Sultan Salim had looted the people's money with a malicious trick, through releasing a new currency and devaluing the old, resulting in a great loss for all people, Ibn Tulun said: "The new money that was struck in the name of the king Muzaffar Salim Khan, every sixteen Fils into Dirham, after it was all eight of Dirham, the people had lost a lot of money in that, and no power but God."

As the contemporary historian of events Ibn al-Homsi wrote in his book "The Events of Time and the Death of the Sheikhs and Peers" quoted these atrocities as saying: "They entered the country and looted the people's cloth and belongings, the shops of the market and left no one in the shops, looted houses and the villages, Damascus underwent a great calamity greater than that of Timur, and they took from Damascus a lot of women, children and slaves, and no horse or mule were left there."

Ibn Tulun was expelled from his house, he said," I was expelled from my house and my books were thrown, they did not respect anyone even the people of Quran, science, or the Sofism" Ibn Tulun lost most of his scientific writings in a barbarian attack as the Mongols had done in Baghdad.

Religious Ignorance and Blind Intolerance... The sanctities of others are barns for their cattle

The Turkish soldiers showed fanaticism of the Hanafi doctrine by their ignorance while they attacked other doctrines and prevented them from praying, and did not hesitate to demolish mosques and insult the sanctities. Some of them turned the Eidin mosque in Damascus into Khan for camels, horses and mules. The schools were closed and turned into animal barns. "Some of the Sultan's community had rendered al-Athrawia school a barn to his sheep"

Whenever the Ottoman soldiers entered Damascus with Sultan Suleiman Khan, they raided the city and al-Gouta sabotaging everything and driving the people out of their homes. So who had the ability to travel had left Damascus, and the soldiers did not respect the elders or the children, and imposed taxes on the people and prices had skyrocketed and increased."

The prices of wheat, rice, meat, flour and other commodities, and the sale of pounds of meat, doubled in price due to the confiscation of crops for the Ottoman army. The architects and the builders were used to reconstruct the place where the Sultan lived, whose departure was a great joy for the inhabitants.”

The Ottomans intervened in every minute detail to dress in order to humiliate people by imposing pants on the inhabitants of the cities of the Levant. Ibn Tulun said: "The Daftardar advocated that no one should come out of his house except to wear pants on him, who got out of his home without pant, he would be emasculated and almost a revolution would erupt against the Ottomans, forcing them to retreat from the strange thing for fear of rebellion by the population.”

“As usual, the Turks persecuted Christians even more and more. A leaflet was issued saying: " no one rides a horse or a donkey, nor a Christian, nor a Jew, nor a Samaritan, nor a Frank in Damascus, nor its suburbs." According to Ibn Tulun.

Al-Tal massacre... More than 40 thousand Alawites killed in Aleppo

When Sultan Salim I entered the city of Aleppo after the Battle of Marj Dabek in 1516, he committed a massacre against the Alawite Muslim community which led to the quasi-end of the Alawite presence in the city of Aleppo. The Ottoman army collected the heads of the dead in the form of a hill in the center of the city, 2 km west of the citadel of Aleppo, so the massacre was known by that name.

The number of Alawites massacred and killed by the Ottomans in Aleppo is estimated at 40,000, while other sources speak of 90,000 men, women and children, while those who survived were forced to go to the Lattakia Mountains.

Erdogan wants to return Ottomans' glories... Turkish crimes do not end

The Ottomans' crimes in the area would not end, despite the passage of decades, the area is still suffering from scourges of the alleged caliphate, which is still being practiced by Erdogan and affiliates.

As we have said before, this grandson and those who are involved in this caliphate must remember the crimes of their predecessors: Erdogan, and the massacres, horrors and incidents of looting and theft and crimes in all the countries of the Arab region. Ottoman history is full of miseries throughout the world.

But the Turkish president had denied that, even defended it and strives to restore the glories of this empire he dreams of.

He sees that the Levant and Damascus are a part of the Ottoman Empire that collapsed at the turn of the twentieth century.

With the start of the protests, Erdogan was fully convinced of his potential to make the Syrian movement run in accordance to his own interests by supporting the Islamists close to him (the Muslim Brotherhood) at the expense of the moderate opposition.

Over the past years, Erdogan has not only opened the door to terrorists, launched attacks on North Syria, supported mercenary gangs, but exceeds the footsteps of his predecessors, led to a political, military and economic invasion of North Syria.

Ankara occupied large number of towns and cities in North Syria under fake pretexts such as to eradicate IS, and sometimes to protect its border, the Syrian conflict was being exploited to expand its domination

The Turkish occupation has intensified its forces to establish so-called control areas on the high way road between Idlib and Syrian border with Turkey and the Syrian border with Jordan extended its full control over that region through military forces seeking to stay longer inside Syrian cities and towns.

Those who follow the Turkish moves in Syria and read the history of their Ottoman ancestors see that the mentality, goals and arguments they put to achieve their interests are one.

Erdogan's actions were based on a number of Ottoman documents, "Jarablus and Idlib", which promote the right of Ankara to dominate the two cities, while the Turkish media promoted the presence of tombs of Ottoman leaders in other parts of North Syria, giving him an excuse for what he does.

The Turkish authorities and their terrorist gangs dominated the process of education, textbooks, road signs and public institutions, which are busy with Turkish language in Syria, as did the Ottomans.

The Turkish government institutions and private companies found an opportunity to be present in Syria by funding more money into projects in North Syria. Turkey established an electricity network in the city of Jarablus, and Turkish flags and pictures of Recep Tayyip Erdogan were hung on the wall of a Turkish hospital in the city.

H/S

ANHA