Romantic approaches to Ottoman

In some party conventions of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), banners in "Ottoman" are being hung.

One was not written in Ottoman. In other words, it was not Turkish written in the Arabic script, it was Arabic. Upon the warning of a former Cabinet Minister Nihat Ergün, it was taken down.

The other banners were Ottoman, in other words, Turkish written in the Arabic script.

These acts show that there are those who have a romantic view for the Ottoman language. There are also those who fear that Latin letters will be abolished after seeing these. This, I think is a baseless fear.

The old Turkish script called Ottoman, even if it is taught to "everybody" will not be used, it will be bound to be forgotten in the routine of daily life because there is no need to write and speak in old Turkish. Because of this, nobody will be able to switch from Latin letters to the old abjad.

İsmet İnönü, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's best friend and aide, was against the letter revolution for two years. When he was told that Latin letters were easy, İnönü had replied, "The easiest script is the one you are used to." As a matter of fact, even Atatürk continued to take his notes in Ottoman in his private life.

However, the literacy rate in the society was around 10 percent then; you could not talk about a "habit." The regime was a one-party regime; the letter revolution was carried out...

Today, the current population is literate with Latin letters. All of our literary, scientific publications are with Latin letters. A return cannot even be imagined. There is no point for a fancy or a fear.

‘Gravestones'

There is a necessity for Ottoman in historic research, political history, legal history,...