Page 48 - A Call for a Turkish-Islamic Union

A CALL FOR A TURKISH-ISLAMIC UNION

To determine the correct strategy, one must have a very

clear understanding of the Islamic world's present condition and
situation. At this point, our analysis of the contemporary Islamic
world is presented below.
Islamic civilization, as represented by the great Ottoman,
Safavid, and Mughal empires in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, was the dominant power in central and southern Asia,
northern Africa, and southern Europe. The Ottomans ruled a
large territory covering the Balkans, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and
parts of Arabia and North Africa; the Safavids ruled Persia and

some neighboring territories; and the Mughals ruled much of the
Indian subcontinent. However, Islam's rule gradually shrank
and weakened. First, the Mughal Empire collapsed and thus
opened a new era for South Asian Muslims. The heir to the
Safavid Empire, the Qajar dynasty, managed to survive until the
1920s, albeit without power or influence. Gradually, these lands
came under British and Russian rule. Meanwhile, the Ottoman

Empire, which was being weakened by the continuing loss of
land and internal turmoil, finally collapsed in the aftermath of
the First World War.
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the largest and most
influential state in the Islamic world, led to historical changes in
Islamic geography, particularly in the Middle East and parts of
the Arabian Peninsula. Throughout the twentieth century, the
nation-states formed by the invading European powers re-
mained the source of the region's tension and discontent. The Is-

lamic world, which had given rise to great civilizations, began to
withdraw into itself. Muslims in the Middle East, as well as in
North Africa and South Asia, suffered oppression under colonial
rule. Most of these countries managed to gain their independ-

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