The Ottoman Funeral

Ertugrul Osman Osmanoglu died last week. For the unfamiliar, this was a man ambitious enough to be born the grandson of a former Ottoman sultan, yet circumstances like the abolition of the throne in 1922 and his family’s exile in 1924 kept him from ever enjoying sultan-hood.

Of course, by the 20^th century Ottoman emperors spent most their time losing wars and trying to find where they misplaced all that money. Still, Ertugrul Osman would have been able to enjoy such imperial titles as “Khan of both lands and seas” and “Custodian of the holy cities” which to this day, is still the only custodial position that actually works with the ladies.

Turks quickly shed any interest in monarchs with the republic in 1923, instead shifting their idolization to the founder of the republic, denying generations of citizens from ever witnessing politically irrelevant royalty.

This could have easily been “Prince Osman VIII’s Yacht Party of Sin”

Meanwhile the Ottoman heirs settled for modest lives in exile and the occasional exclusive about their landlord troubles, a fate Europeans wouldn’t inflict on any but the most inconsequential barons or viscounts. Ertugrul Osman’s predecessor had only seven attendees at his 1994 funeral in France (link Turkish), several of whom were Tunisians picked up off the street.

Yet Friday’s funeral for the ‘last Ottoman’ was unusual not just because of the service at an imperial-era mosque in Istanbul or because he was buried in his grandfathers’ imperial tomb, but because throngs of Turks arrived and not just to get time off on a workday.

And so there are many different interpretations of what exactly has changed in the past 15 years:

The Pessimistic

The Ottoman sultan was not just the leader of the empire but also the leader of Islam (the Caliph).

When a mob of religious fundamentalists clamor to touch the casket (link Turkish) of someone who represents an abolished Caliphate, this might be a good time to purchase Qur’an futures and invest in headscarves.

The Optimistic

Some headlines declared “The way we see the Ottomans has changed” and “A mature republic has gotten over its Ottoman complex” (links Turkish).

Turks have traditionally been very selective with what history we praise (see: any time we won) and what we ignore (see: times we lost, Armenians, that Friday night we drank a fifth of bourbon), and now we are learning to come to terms with the past.

The Rabid

The Ottoman era reminds some of a time Turks dictated their own terms instead of having a bunch of pasty Europeans shame and/or bore us into behaving like them like today. This interpretation assumes the last two-hundred years of the empire never occurred.

The People Who Get Their News Three Months Late

Some were no doubt disappointed the ‘King of Pop’ had not requested to be buried in Istanbul.

The Realistic

In the end, touching the casket of a royal is the next best thing to seeing your sovereign in boxers on the cover of a tabloid.