'Ottomanalgia' and the Protests in Turkey
It was the sixth day since a peaceful sit-in had begun in Gezi Park in Istanbul to protect the last remaining green space in the center of the city. Protests had spread throughout the country due to the excessive use of force by police, including tear gas, water cannons, and plastic bullets against protesters from various backgrounds. On this same day, 2 June, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a talk on the importance of preserving the Ottoman heritage at the opening ceremony of the new facility for the Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul. The contrast between the contents of the building and the content of Erdoğan’s speech was startling. Besides stating the importance and the richness of the archives, holding almost ninety-six million documents and three hundred and seventy thousand register books that date back to Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s era, Erdoğan’s speech was predominantly on the protests in Taksim. Erdoğan declared: "I am not the master of the people. Dictatorship does not run in my blood or in my character. I am the servant of the people."
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