On the eve of World War I, an estimated two million Armenians lived in the Ottoman empire. Well over a million were deported and hundreds of thousands were simply killed. Eliot Engel
These are the gardens of the Topkapi palace of Istanbul, the imperial residence of the Sultans of the Ottoman empire. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities III, BBC 2013
By Suleiman’s time Istanbul had entered a golden age. ibid.
Tsar Nicholas I called the Ottoman Empire ‘the sick man of Europe’. ibid.
In 1683 catastrophe loomed when the Ottoman Turks laid siege to Vienna. With the city in peril, a pan-European army rushed to the rescue. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream II, BBC 2016
These gangs were made up of religious bigots, often blessed by Orthodox priests and bishops, and sometimes augmented by fellow Orthodox ‘volunteers’ from Greece and Russia. They made a special attempt to destroy all evidence of Ottoman civilisation, as in the specially atrocious case of the dynamiting of several historic minarets in Banja Luka, which was done during a cease-fire and not as the result of any battle. Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great p21
A brilliant soldier, a revolutionary statesman, a man who joined his fate with the destiny of his nation. 1915 at Gallipoli he handed the British one of the most devastating defeats in their history. Ataturk: Founder of Modern Turkey, 1999
He founded and became the first president of the Republic of Turkey. ibid.
Stalin considered him a fascist; Hitler and Mussolini said he was a communist. ibid.
He turned the country into a police state and ruled with merciless authority for 33 years. ibid.
Under the increasing despotism of the Sultan, Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk] despised tyranny and became concerned with freedom and the ways to achieve it. He immersed himself in his military courses. ibid.
Despite Mustafa Kemal’s warnings, the Ottoman empire entered the war on the side of Germany and the Astro-Hungarian empire. ibid.
Mustafa Kemal decided to set the seeds of provincial government and opened a parliament in Ankara. ibid.
The Sultanate was abolished. ibid.
1923: The Proclamation of the Republic would be voted upon … with Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk] as its first president. ibid.
He persuaded the parliament to abolish the caliphate. ibid.
A wave of reforms to emancipate Turkish women. ibid.
The capture of Constantinople was the Ottomans’ greatest victory. Andrew Marr’s History of the World IV: Into the Light, BBC 2012
In early November 1913 in Istanbul, the capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, a new web was unveiled: it would spread the First World far beyond the borders of Europe … This was how the Ottoman empire would enter the First World War: not just with a declaration of war but with a declaration of jihad: Holy War. David Olusoga, The World’s War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire II: Martial Races, BBC 2014
Malta vs Ottomans: There was desperation and horror and suffering on both sides. Bettany Hughes’ Treasure of the World s1e2: Malta
The magnificent Turkish city Istanbul. This is a metropolis that is so significant, so strategic, it became a power base for massive world cultures from the ancient Romans to the Byzantines. Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World s1e6: Istanbul
My favourite building on earth … Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofya which means holy wisdom … The dome is still one of the biggest in the world … The interior is decorated with over a thousand years of artwork. ibid.
In 1453 this church, well the whole city, was taken over by the Muslim Ottoman Turk, Mehmet II. ibid.
An incredible feat of engineering … Constantinople’s water system was one of the most sophisticated in the world, a network of aqueducts, channels and reservoirs. ibid.
So many details have been revealed from the digs that archaeologists have managed to recreate a perfect replica of that merchant ship. ibid.
The Topkapi Palace: The jewel in the Ottoman crown. ibid.