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Sultan vs. Caliph

Reader comment on item: Erdoğan's Turkish Delight
in response to reader comment: Sultan Erdogan

Submitted by Robert (United States), Dec 19, 2021 at 11:46

I think you misunderstood me on the title issue. As you know very well, until World War One, the Ottoman Empire was, arguably, the most important Muslim power in the world; for one think, it was known as the "sik man of Europe. Accordingly, the title of its ruler was paramount. And it turns out that there were 2 titles (which Ataturk eliminated: CALIPH and SULTAN.

So when discussing Turkey's Erdogan, I was alluding to the history of this title as it evolved beginning with the Seljuk Turks. It's true that the roots of this term Sultan is Arabic; however it had a long non-Arab history among the Turkic people, and the distinction between Sultan and Caliph emerged among the non-Arabic final rulers of the successor Ottoman Empire. My aim was to get to focus on the history of Turkey, and how that history plays out in the conduct of Erdogan as Sultan rather than a Caliph.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Sultan Erdogan [219 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
RobertJan 23, 2020 00:31257409
Sultan vs. Caliph [157 words]RobertDec 19, 2021 11:46257409
New moves by Erdogan [138 words]Michael SDec 16, 2019 01:47256579
Timing of the Mediterranean Paradigm Shift [112 words]M ToveyJan 17, 2020 10:51256579
3The 4 Pillars of Turkey's Islamization (1990-2010) [592 words]G MarcusNov 27, 2019 00:41256158
Reincarnation Phenom?! [17 words]Barry BlackNov 14, 2019 09:15255984
1Caliph Erdogan? [47 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
David RyanNov 13, 2019 16:53255979
1The Shia Claim of Caliphate vs the Sunni Claim [125 words]Mike RamirezNov 14, 2019 16:24255979
1All of us are eligible to be Caliphs --Shias and Sunnis can call a truce-- [151 words]PrashantJan 18, 2020 23:51255979
1Shia or Sunni,its a threat to world peace [58 words]AktFeb 18, 2020 10:56255979
1It js good intention of EU's fault [457 words]Alex BaldorNov 13, 2019 15:37255975
1Ataturk Worship [72 words]David RyanNov 14, 2019 19:01255975
AtaTurk worship [147 words]Alex BaldorNov 16, 2019 12:39255975
Hatred of Ataturk, and Alevi Persecution [418 words]JamieDec 11, 2019 21:26255975
I See the Organized Atheists Are In [46 words]David RyanDec 12, 2019 17:55255975
turkish-minister-claims-massacres-ofalevi turks never happened [37 words]David RyanDec 12, 2019 18:03255975
2Yes, American Leaders are totally "Clueless" about Recep Tayyip Erdogan [115 words]Mike RamirezNov 13, 2019 15:29255974

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