Egyptian Intellectuals Cool on 'Ottoman Commonwealth' Proposal

Wednesday 13, 2005

By Cumali Onal

Leading writers and academics of Egypt are distant to the proposal for an "Ottoman commonwealth" suggested by Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika the other day (April 11).

One of Egypt's leading journalists, Fehmi Huveydi says Arabs would not go along with the cooperation under the Ottoman umbrella. Turkology Professor Mohammed Haridi emphasizes, "The Ottoman Empire is not remembered well among Arabs". Meanwhile, Selame Ahmed Selame, a journalist of Al Ahram, claims that a new institution "would only increase the number of institutions that do not work."

Huveydi said the Ottoman legacy is perceived differently in the east and the west of the Arab world. "Eastern Arabs including Egypt do not like to hear the word Ottoman because they claim that the Ottomans perpetrated many injustices especially during its last period," he said.

Professor Mohammed Haridi says, "Even if this proposal is not accepted now, no big projects have made sense at the beginning". Haridi points out that the project could be discussed in terms of its cultural dimension rather than political.

Al Ahram's Selame finds such an idea quite illogical and explains: "There are already many organizations and institutions that do not work in the Arab world. The most important of these are the Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC) and The Arab League. Such an institution would not only increase the number of the redundant institutions but also reopen old wounds." According to Selame, Turkey should work hard to make the existing institutions more functional.

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