In addition to the opening remarks were a set of talks by noted professors on the issue of Civilization and World History. One of the four presenters is a really well known scholar who has written one of the main textbooks for college world history. His talk was really off topic, dealing more with how we should divide history into different periods of time than the way we do it now.
The other three essentially said that Byzantine and Ottoman history have both been neglected in scholarship for a long, long time. For a variety of political reasons and just a more western-focused attitude in universities, these empires have been ignored by most world historians. One said that a gathering that he put together on Ottoman history some years ago was actively protested by Turkish students who didn't want to look backwards. Their nationalism was forward looking.
Another professor mentioned that now that tourism is such a massive industry, pro-Ottoman feelings may be swinging too far in the other direction. Politics are involved because the countries that made up the old Ottoman Empire tend to be disfunctional: Bosnia, Iraq, Libya, Serbia, etc. A "new Ottomanism" has become popular in which Turkey becomes a dominate regional leader separate from the rest of Europe.
Yes, history can be used as a tool of power.
The very last statement at the end of the three hour event was from a professor who wants to see a Byzantine/Ottoman Commonwealth Games, in which all of the countries that were formerly part of either empire come together for sporting competitions.
That's a cool idea.
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