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Some key dates

1071: The battle of Manzikiert, Turkish speaking mercenaries enter Asia Minor
1303: The Seljuk Empire collapses making way for Ottoman rule
1453: The Conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II
1454: Establishment of the system of "millet" which separates the Ottoman society in autonomous groups according to the religious belonging
1512: Sultan Selim I becomes Caliph
1839: Secular reform movements called Tanzimat arise in the Ottoman Empire
1909: The Ottoman Grand Orient, the first Masonic Obedience of Turkey is formed
1916: Arab revolts leading to the separation of the Arab provinces from the Ottoman Empire
1920: The Empire is broken up after the Treaty of Sevres
1923: The Treaty of Lausanne is signed and the Turkish Republic is born
1924: The Caliphate is abolished and the royal family exiled. The Unification of Education law is passed
1925: Sufi brotherhoods are banned and their mausoleums shut down
1925: Sheikh Saïd leads a fundamentalist Kurdish revolt
1927: Secularism is adopted as a constitutional principle
1928: Latin alphabet replaces the Arabic alphabet
1930: Muslim revolts in Menemen
1934: Women are granted the right to vote and to stand for election
1937: Secularism becomes a constitutional principle
1938: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dies
1950: The conservative Democratic Party comes to power
1950: 20 mausoleums are re-opened for pilgrimage purposes
1960: Military Coup d’etat
1961: Turkey’s second Constitution with very liberal influences is drafted
1970: The National Order Party is founded by Necmettin Erbakan (this party would later be banned in 1971)
1972: The National Salvation Party is founded by Necmettin Erbakan (it was later banned in 1980)
1974: The National Salvation Party takes part in government
1977: The National Salvation Party again takes part in government
1980: Military Coup d’Etat. A new conservative and fascistic Constitution is drafted (still in force in 2016)
1984: The Welfare Party is founded by Necmettin Erbakan (later banned in 1998)
1996: The Welfare Party takes part in government
28 February 1997: "Post-modern" coup. A meeting of the National Security Council (MGK) took place on that day. The MGK took about 20 decisions on secular issues. Prime Minister Necbettin Erbakan refused to sign the decisions banning the veil in the administration and in schools. Erbakan was forced to resign on 18 June 1997. The Prosperity Party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 1998. Erbakan was sentenced to one year in prison for inciting religious hatred and hostility.
1998: The Virtue Party is founded by Necmettin Erbakan (later banned in 2001)
1999: The Helsinki European Council accepts Turkey’s application for membership of the European Union
2001: Erbakan forms the Felicity Party while the Justice and Development Party is founded by youth from Millî Görüş
2002: The Justice and Development Party wins the elections and forms a single-party government
2005: Turkey enters membership negotiations with the European Union
2007 : The Turkish army has published a communiqué (known as e-muhtira/online memorandum) on its website which recalls its attachment to Kemalist principles
2014: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is elected President of the Republic
2015: Parliamentary elections. The AKP (Justice and Development Party) lost for the first time the absolute majority in the National Assembly and obtained only a relative majority. In November, early parliamentary elections were held. The AKP won an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
The Great Synagogue of Edirne was reopened after 46 years of closure.
Jewish Turks publicly celebrated Hanukkah for the first time in modern history in Ortakoy Square, Istanbul.
Jewish Turks welcome Muslims for Ramadan Iftar (breaking the fast) at the Edirne Synagogue.
In November 2015, for the first time, a veiled magistrate presides over a hearing at the Istanbul District Court.
2016 :
February: For the first time, a memorial ceremony was held for those who lost their lives on the ship Struma. 80 years ago, on 24 February 1942, the Struma carrying 769 passengers including 103 children, Jewish refugees from Romania, was torpedoed in the Black Sea. For nearly ten weeks, this ship had been quarantined in Istanbul while waiting for an entry visa to Palestine, which never arrived. This forgotten tragedy symbolises the efforts of Jews to escape the Shoah.
March: Migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey.
April: Binali Yildirim is appointed Prime Minister.
May: 12 People’s Democratic Party deputies, including co-chairmen Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, are arrested.
July: Attempted coup. Closure of high schools and military academies. Since then, military hospitals are under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.
The government authorises the wearing of the veil by policewomen.
2017 : Turkish constitutional referendum, transition from a parliamentary to a presidential regime. Abolition of the post of Prime Minister from the result of the referendum (yes: 51.41%, no: 48.59%). Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the head of state and head of government, and becomes again the president of the AKP.
Rav Isak Haleva was re-elected Hahambasi (Chief Rabbi) for a period of seven years.
According to the amendment of the marriage regulation, imams appointed by the Ministry of Interior will now be able to perform official marriages.
The Turkish Ministry of Defence announced that women serving in the Turkish army will be allowed to wear the veil with their uniform. It was the last institution in Turkey to ban the veil.
2018: Recep Tayyip Erdogan is re-elected President of the Turkish Republic (52.59% of the votes). In the early parliamentary elections, the AKP lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly.
2019: The municipal elections are a defeat for the AKP which loses Istanbul. The elections were cancelled and new elections were organised only for Istanbul, which resulted in the victory of the Republican People’s Party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu.
The Armenians elected on 11 December their 85th patriarch, Sahak Mashalyan.
2020 : The former Saint Sophia Church in Istanbul becomes a mosque, placed under the administration of the Diyanet (the Directorate of Religious Affairs). The Church of St. Saviour in Chora is also converted into a mosque by presidential decree. The two buildings were originally a church, transformed into a mosque, then into a museum, before being reconverted into a mosque.
2021 : Inauguration of the Taksim Mosque by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey leaves the Istanbul Convention (Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence).
President Erdoğan agreed that the first summit of the Alliance of Rabbis of Islamic States would be held in Turkey.
2022: Turkey’s Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque hosts Tarawih prayer for the first time in 88 years.
The main Jewish cemetery in Istanbul is desecrated. The Jewish cemetery of Hasköy is the largest in Turkey and in Istanbul which hosts the vast majority of the 15.000 Turkish Jews. 81 gravestones were destroyed.

D 29 August 2022    APinar Kilavuz ASamim Akgönül

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