Sibel Hurtas
Translated by Sibel Utku Bila
Earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
brought up an intriguing issue about Mimar Sinan, the 16th-century chief
architect of the Ottoman Empire, whose ethnic roots have long been the
subject of debate. In an infamous episode in the 1930s, the great
master’s skull was exhumed from his grave for measurements intended to
prove he was Turkish. Davutoglu said the skull had gone missing and he
had ordered an investigation to hunt it down.
During its 14-year rule, the Justice and
Development Party (AKP) has often brought up similar cases of racist and
fascist action from the early years of the modern Turkish republic.
Though the party’s motives remain controversial, many saw the debates as
an opportunity to face up to the dark pages of the nation’s recent
history. The debates, however, have proved to be just fleeting rhetoric
with no real consequences. In 2011, for instance, the AKP brought up the
mass killings of Alevis
in Dersim in the late 1930s, and then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan even issued an apology on behalf of the state. The move,
however, yielded nothing tangible for the country’s Alevis, many of whom
say discrimination against them has, in fact, increased under the AKP.
It is hard to say whether Davutoglu’s move will lead to
something different in terms of historical reconciliation, but the issue
is important to understanding Turkish history and its ramifications
today.
The legacy of Mimar Sinan —
“Sinan the Architect” in Turkish — includes more than 350 structures
such as mosques, palaces, madrassas and caravansaries. These constitute some of the most celebrated Ottoman buildings, and the engineering techniques in some of Sinan's masterpieces remain a mystery to this day.
Turkish historian Ayse Hur described to Al-Monitor the
political climate in which Sinan’s grave was opened in 1935, 350 years
after his death in 1588. “Racism was on the rise across the world in the
1930s, and in Turkey such [racial] studies were also underway. The
Turkish Anthropological Research Center — which was founded on Ataturk’s
instructions — was conducting comparative studies on the remains of
children of different ethnic backgrounds like the Turks, Armenians, Greeks and Jews,” she said.
According to Hur, the historian and sociologist Afet Inan, Ataturk’s adopted daughter, was
also involved in the studies with a doctoral research project seeking
to prove Turks were a perfect representative of the brachycephalic
Alpine race, which she conducted under the guidance of Swiss
anthropologist Eugene Pittard.
“This giant ‘racist’ research involved no less than 64,000
people — something unseen even in Nazi Germany — and was sponsored by
the state. Members of the Turkish Historical Institute were curious
about the racial profiles of famous historical figures, or rather they
postulated these figures belonged to the Turkish race and then sought
physical evidence to prove it. That is how Sinan’s tomb was opened on
Aug. 1, 1935, centuries after his death,” she said.
According to Hur, the Turkish Historical Institute’s
official statement at the time said the tomb was opened, examined and
then closed. A report in Aksam newspaper on Aug. 5, 1935, said the
researchers had concluded Sinan’s skull was “brachycephalic” or
broad-headed. “Since all Turks are brachycephalic, it is once again
demonstrated that the great architect was Turkish not only culturally
but also racially,” it said.
The debate on Sinan’s ethnicity continues. Summing up the
prevailing arguments, Hur said, “Sinan’s actual name was Sinan bin
Abdulmennan. Abdulmennan was a name given to converts to Islam. In his
memoir, Sinan speaks of being a 'devshirme,' which was a term describing
Christians the [Ottoman] state selected for posts in the palace or in
the army. However, Sinan gave no further information about his
roots. Even this silence on his part supports the validity of arguments
about his non-Muslim roots. One ancient decree contains a request to
exempt relatives of Sinan — named Sarioglu Dugenci, Ulisa and Nisan —
from exile to Cyprus. According to Armenian historian Kevork Pamukciyan,
the relatives’ names make it obvious Sinan was an Armenian. He also
said that one of Sinan’s brothers was named Mikayel. Some nationalist
historians, meanwhile, say Sinan hailed from the Christian Turkic
Karamanlide community. Both theories could be true as no pure ethnic
group could be found in history. Yet no information is available to back
up the Karamanlide theory.”
What happened to Sinan’s skull after the examination? Davutoglu says it has disappeared and pledged efforts to recover it.
Hur, however, pointed to a different theory on what might
have actually happened. “In the early 1940s, the team restoring Sinan’s
tomb was alarmed when they realized the skull was not there. Whether any
investigation was conducted on the issue at the time is unknown,” she
said. “But in an interview in 1963, Sedat Cetintas, the renowned
restoration architect who was part of the team that [first] opened the
tomb, gave the following account: ‘I got Sinan’s tomb opened and managed
to tuck in my head and a single shoulder. The corpse was completely
decomposed and the head sample lay over the soil in the form of dust. … I
found two 10-centimeter pieces of bone from each of Sinan’s upper arms
and a piece with a diameter of 3-4 centimeters from his skull, and gave
them to the research team.’ So if Cetintas’ account is true, there might
have been no skull to examine in the first place, and even if there
were, how suitable it was for a study remains an open question.”
Davutoglu’s pledge to recover the skull and "remove this black stain in our history" has prompted a flurry of activity at anthropology faculties conserving skulls. Ankara University
has already said they don’t have Sinan’s skull. Hur added, “If Cetintas
tells the truth, the recovery of a skull is not possible.”
And what about the “black stain”? Noting she doubted Davutoglu’s
intentions, Hur said, “If an intact skull did exist and was lost, this
would go down in history as a disgrace for the mindset of the 1930s. But
this would be nothing compared to the other shameful acts of that
mindset. Most recently, for instance, a mass grave, believed to date
back to the 1937-38 Dersim operation, was discovered. Work is underway
to identify the victims. And when it comes to mass graves from the
post-1980 period, I have lost count of them. It is hard to figure out
why Davutoglu has decided to hunt down Sinan’s skull, while he takes no
interest in hunting down the perpetrators of [human rights violations]
under the AKP, a task for which he is responsible. Moreover, I don’t
think Davutoglu would show respect to the theory of Sinan’s Armenian descent.”
"Al-Monitor" (www.al-monitor.com), April 20, 2016
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