by Nikitas » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:32 pm
I have been to several Muslim countries and lived in one of them for some years. The Arabs regard the Turks as the cause of the demise of Arab civilisation. They fought against the Ottoman empire. They do not glorify the Ottoman days, they regard them as a time of colonial occupation in the same category as other such occupations.
Egypt had large resident communities of Greeks, Jews, Italians, Maltese, but not Turks. It is strange that after centuries of presence in Egypt and other countries no remnants of a Turkish community are to be found in any of them. Are you sure the Arabs like you?
And against this background Davut, the short man with the funny moustache, draws arbitrary lines on the map showing Turkey's future sphere of influence covering the countries from which the Turks were kicked out by rebellions of the local populations. Have you asked the Egyptians how they feel about this map? Their response might go something like "baarrah, ibn al kalb".