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@ Taylan (Actual Literal Cat)
2025-02-26 22:21:37
"Palestinians: Name an important Palestinian in history?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deiShtWReYE
It would be similar with Turkish people. They would name Mustafa Kemal, and various people after the founding of modern-day Turkey, but ask them about ancient Turks of importance and it's difficult to come up with any.
Or maybe I'm stupid... *searches web* Yeah, I think all you'll find is Ottoman sultans (who may or may not be "Turkish") and then maybe the founders and leaders of various Turkic tribes throughout history. We learned about those in history class but I forgot all their names.
Nomadic people are not very likely to contribute to the world's cultural heritage. That's just something you have to accept. It's not like the Egyptians or the Greek, who've been in the same place for millennia.
Of course, there's a major difference from Turks to Palestinians, which is that the latter claim to be an ancient and indigenous people of the region they now live in. If that is so, you would expect them to be able to name some important figures from their localized culture in that region.
Turks make no such claim. The education system in Turkey will openly teach you about the fact that Turkic people came from the Asian steppes and invaded Anatolia about 500 years ago. And then they were known as the Ottoman Empire, not as Turks, for the longest time. Turkish national identity is mostly a 20th century invention, and this is not a secret.
Perhaps it would be good for Palestinians to know this and accept it for what it is, rather than hold on to these myths of a rich indigenous history that makes them feel entitled to the entire region.