Canan Parmaksızoğlu Aksoy is the first Turkish and Muslim academic to teach at a prestigious Vatican school. Moreover, she will be the first lecturer to teach Ottoman history at the heart of the papacy.
Aksoy, who long worked in the Vatican archives, was picked to teach a course on relations between the papacy and Ottoman Empire in near eastern history at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Saturday, she said she would especially try to convey the Turkish side’s approach to relations.
The academic was given access to the secret archives of the Vatican for research previously and is credited with cataloging and publication of 19th and 20th-century Turkish documents from the archives.
Aksoy said adding such a course was a “late step” but “a good development for our country, our history.” “My course will shed light on our common history. It will teach students previously unknown facts about the Ottomans, and for me, it will be an opportunity to correct any possible inaccuracies in studying Ottoman history. It will also be an opportunity for students to have an unbiased view of Turkish history. Actually, this was the biggest motivation for me to accept the teaching offer,” she said.
