Michael Meyer: ‘’Soft Islam " is a gift for Turkey’s future’’

Yesterday President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in which he expressed an interest in resolving the situation connected with the downing of the Russian military aircraft in November last year. ‘’We,’’ Erdogan emphasizes, ‘’never had the desire or intention of bringing down the much-reported aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation." The Turkish President expressed his deepest regret over the incident and underlined readiness to do everything possible to restore the traditionally friendly relations between Turkey and Russia, as well as jointly respond to the crisis events in the region, to fight terrorism. In response to the message, many Russian experts agree that Erdogan is seeking ways out of the isolation, to which his foreign policy has led Turkey.

Maria Sidelnikova, the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, spoke about Erdogan personally, Russian-Turkish relations and the interpenetration of cultures with the president of the Institute of Asia and Africa of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, a specialist in Ottoman history, Professor Mikhail Meyer.

- I need to ask you as a specialist in Turkology, what is the secret of the political success of Erdogan in Turkey?

- I had viewed Erdogan very positively as a person and politician, considering him to be an intelligent man. But then he got confused, did not understand the situation that prevailed in the Middle East, though he should know it better than we do.

However, what he has tried to do for Turkey is very important – it is an attempt to present a soft, rather than a militant Islam; an Islam that is ready to cooperate with other nations. He managed to convince the leaders of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the need for closer cooperation with Ankara. This policy is useful for Russia, because ‘soft Islam’ allows us to perceive people from Turkey and from the East more calmly, to have an opportunity to communicate with them constantly, to find possibilities for contacts.

Family values are paramount in the East. Turks are wonderful husbands. They never leave their children. Their children are the most beloved in the East.

Unfortunately, it needs to be proved to many of our young husbands that children are a happiness and an important gift in life. And this is a part of civilization in the East. It is believed that if you have a lot of kids you can create a new empire. This should be realized, and then it will help to understand the situation better.

A ‘soft Islam’, which allows for a good family with lots of children is a gift for the future of Turkey. I really want to see us able to make such a gift to Russia.

- You have touched on the theme of the interpenetration of cultures. What about the interpenetration of the Caucasian and Slavic cultures?

- This process of convergence has not been completed yet, although it has been continuing for many centuries. In the 17th century Peter I wanted to get close to Iran and to establish close contacts. Peter did not manage to do so, but contacts with the Caucasus had been quite intensive even before.

One of the main ways through which our contacts developed is the Caspian Sea. The Russians transported products eastward via the Volga – walrus tusks, wheat, honey, game birds. The latter, incidentally, is another indication that we already had time to absorb the traditions and customs of the East, particularly in Central Asia, where there was an ability to work with game birds. We grew these birds and regularly sent them to the Turkish sultan.

We brought fur, which is necessary even in countries with hot climates during the cold autumn nights. If we talk about clothes, the Russian padded jacket, for example, our invention, but the basis of this jacket lies in eastern clothing. All this was the subject of our contacts. One of the trade routes came from Pomerania via the Caspian Sea to the Caucasus and Iran.

The Russian language received a lot of words from the languages ​​of the eastern nations. When at the request of some magazine I started to write an article about how well the Russians know the East, I simply could not stop – there are such ancient things that no one suspects about. A very long time ago the East was in contact with the ‘Rus’, which, by the way, were called ‘Rus’ by the Arabs. The early medieval peoples’ basic skills of understanding each other were very highly developed through trade due to the fact that people respect other people's customs. For example, Athanasius Nikitin not only went to India, but he also learned Arabic, learned many of the concepts of Islam. This is natural, because he would not have received an income on the Indian subcontinent if he had not spoken with the local Muslims as a Muslim! These skills are necessary for traders who communicate with each other.

Hence, it seems to me that it is necessary to draw the possibility of our relations with the East, the possibilities of peaceful contacts. Trade is one of the examples. We love the culture, songs, dances, the clothing of the East. For example, I have gathered a huge collection of ceramic plates in my apartment, which are brought from Turkey. I like them very much due to their pattern. My mother is from Latvia and I, in theory, should be tied to some Baltic things. But somehow I am attracted by the East constantly.