Dear Friend,
I believe that in those days of history, conquering another nations' city was not the same it is today. Today, humanity has reached a better level of civilization, and conquering another country is not an honorable thing. But in those eras of history it was nearly something "legitimate", so I believe that states can not be critisized for their conquests in the very past. Ottomans were conquerors, fighters. Even Greeks were so during certain eras. The powerful ate the weak. This used to be the reality and the destiny of human civilization. It was Greeks who attacked and invaded Turkey during WWI.
I think that after WWII, the understanding of legitimacy of invading another country has changed, and this was a positive outcome, possibly the only positive outcome of the WWII.
In today's world, no country can claim honor in invading another country. There is only one state today which still tries to do that (I believe we all know which state that is) and it only triggers negative feelings and disapproval from the entire rest of the world for doing so.
I would like to mention that Ottoman Empire did not make massacres against Greeks or Armenians. Some Armenians were banished, but they were riots and they were in cooperation with the invaders during WWI. So this was something normal, any country would do that.
Ottomans were not racists, because they were a multi-national empire. After the conquest of Istanbul, we still pride ourselves in protecting the Christians and Jews in the city, while they expected slaughter or banishment at the least. Please correct your information about this issue, I do not know what sources you read, or what they teach in Greek schools about the Ottoman history.
Being a Turk, I have zero negative feelings about Greeks. I could say I even have sympathy for them, as well as all the other mediterrennean countries, because we share a lot of common values with each other.
The movie was good, but it was far from perfect. I have seen a lot of historical mistakes, and the storytelling was less good than what this kind of a movie deserves. But still, the movie was not bad, and can be watched.
Yes, it tells only one side of the story, looking only from the Ottoman perspective. It tries to look from the Byzantium point of view sometimes, but not with enough effort.
The war scenes were not realistic enough. Turkish cinema has come a long way, it creates wonderful dramas, comedies and storytellings, but when it comes to war or action scenes, it is not at the Holywood level yet. It will be in near future, I believe, but not yet, and this movie is a good example why it is not for the time being.
I believe that Greeks and Turks should forget about the bitter past and look for better friendship and cooperation for the future. I certainly agree with you. We have a lot of values and solid benefit we could give each other. Arguing tires us all, and provides no benefit. The era in which we live in is not the time for satisfying unrealistic nationalist (racist let me say) feelings of citizens. It is the time to provide real benefit through cooperation and we can really make the world a better place.
And that country, who still attacks and invades other countries in far away locations of the world, will have to stop and accept common values of humanity someday. If not, the world will teach them how to, I believe.
Greetings from Turkey
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