İnönü University Faculty of Letters Lecturer Prof. Dr. Mehmet Dönmez said that the tombs of the dervishes, veterans and alperens who spread Turkishness and Islam in the Balkans are the seal of Turkish culture in the region.
Prof. Dr. Dönmez made a presentation titled “Perception of Sarı Saltuk in the Balkans” at the International Symposium on Alevism and Bektashism in the Balkans, organized at the Balkan Congress Center by Edirne Governorship, Trakya University, Ministry of Culture and Tourism Alevi-Bektashi Culture and Cemevi Presidency and Balkan Cities Cooperation Edirne Platform. .
Stating that Sarı Saltuk is an important value in the spread of Turkishness and Islam in the Balkans, Dönmez said, “Sarı Saltuk has a brave and warrior side. But he fights both with a sword and a wooden sword. He conquers hearts with a wooden sword.” he said.
-“Degeneracy should not be allowed”
Dönmez emphasized that individuals are very important in terms of Turkish history and culture, and that influential people constitute the cornerstone of culture.
Stating that the dervishes and their tombs, which are the carriers of Turkish culture in the Balkans, should be protected and their value should be well understood, Dönmez said:
“If you want to degenerate and destroy a culture, if you want to cloud the minds of the young people who will keep that culture alive, you make it controversial whether the touchstone people lived or not and what they said. People now doubt whether these people lived in the past and the effects of their words. Many foreign thinkers are interested in Hacı Bektaş Veli. He questions whether he is alive or not, or to put it more fashionably, in your culture that guides your young people with statements such as ‘this person was a Christian saint, a monk, a clergyman’. “They make important milestones suspicious.”
“The background of the work is very different”
Dönmez said that one of the names that foreign thinkers made suspicious with their views was Sarı Saltuk.
Explaining that he conducted field research on the opinions of Turks living in the Balkans about Sarı Saltuk, Dönmez said:
” While I was doing field research in Babadağ, where the tomb of Sarı Saltuk is located in Romania, two bus priests from Canada came to visit. It seems very attractive at first. Sarı Saltuk has a universal dimension, everyone is curious about Sarı Saltuk and learns about it. You think you want it, but the background is very different.
They are trying to Christianize these important individuals who Turkified the Balkans and spread Islam to the Balkans. There is also Akyazılı Sultan Baba Tomb in Varna, Bulgaria. He is a very important person, Evliya Çelebi describes himself in his Travelogue. When you enter the tomb of Akyazılı Sultan Baba, the Ministry of Culture of the Bulgarian government charges you a museum fee. Inside the tomb is always Hz. Jesus, Hz. There are signs symbolizing Mary and Christianity. When you enter, a Christian woman standing at the door and acting as shrine keeper says, ‘This person is a Christian saint.’
“Foreigners want to scrape off that seal”
Dönmez pointed out that great importance should be given to the tombs and valuable people in the Balkans while studying Turkish culture and civilization.
Stating that the Turkish presence in the Balkans can be seen through the tombs and important people, Dönmez said, “The tombs and individuals in the Balkans are literally the seal of Turkish culture and civilization there. Foreigners want to scrape off that seal. Turkey’s political border starts from Edirne and ends in Kars.” But our borders of belief and culture are not like this. When you go to the Balkans and research, you see how large and widespread the thought system of the Ottoman, Turkish culture, civilization and Islamic belief is. you see.” he said.
