The Incorporation of the foreign elements into the Ottoman political culture

Abstract

This thesis is a study which aims to explore the cultural dimensions of Ottoman politics and state tradition. The present study is an analysis of the components of the political culture of the Ottomans until the end of the sixteenth century. The components creating the sui generis political culture of the Ottomans treated in this thesis are that of Islamic, Byzantine and Turco-Iranian origin. An integral part of this study is also concerned with the continuity and discontinuity of the Ottoman political culture in modem Turkey. In the light of the above findings, the politico-cultural dimensions of current relations of Turkey with the West are presented from the standpoint of cultural history