SUMMARY OF THE BOOK

FOREWORD

The aim and methodology of the book is explained in the introduction to the book.

The writer explores the subject of identity, which has developed towards the end of the 20th century and caused problems in much geographical area, under the umbrella of multiculturalism.

He discussed the problem of identity in relation to Turkey and the nation state’s approach to this issue. He focuses on his own ethnic group in offering the leader a platform to further debate these questions.

The writer tries to encourage his reader to find out the importance of their cultural background and roots through the questions “ Who am I?” and “ Who were we?”

He addresses new questions around both Turkish and Greek (Hellenic) identity through work that was carried out with group of subjects from Erenkoy. He wants to ascertain whether the informants are aware of their ethnic identity (both Turkish and Greek).

CULTURE AND RESPONSIBILTY

In this section, following a general description of culture, the writer then asks his reader the following questions:

“ Is it possible to protect ones identity and culture in this age of rapidly expanding communication which is having a major impact on people’s lives? Moreover, is it necessary to protect it?”

The writer’s main concern is to elicit answers to these questions but he is also interested in encouraging the respondents to be aware of their own individual and communal responsibility in maintaining and promoting their own culture. Although cultural values which are the product of thousands of years of history and tradition, they tend to vary from generation to generation; but they still retain some features of human behaviour which is carried forward. Through his research and conclusions, the writer is seeking to provide a written record of the cultural heritage of the Pontos people. In this way he is hoping to provide written evidence for future generations and researchers.

HISTORY

Asan has established that the people involved in this research have little or no awareness of their own history. He highlights the fact that this ignorance is a loss to both society and to individual members. Moreover, he would like to promote the setting of a database in order to rectify the situation.

In this section concerning of the history of Pontos, the writer refers to a variety of sources.

‘Points’ means ‘sea’ in old Hellenic. ‘Iuxeinos’ means happiness and hospitality. At one time in 756 BC, Euxeinos Pontos (hospitable sea) attracted Milet colonisers. During the period of Pontos Kingdom, because of the shared name and the importance of history, the area around Pontos became more prominent. The writer maintains that the seeds of the current Pontos culture were sown in Northeast Turkey in 281 BC.

The Pontos Kingdom was established as a separate independent state by Mithridates who originated from Persia, as a buffer zone between them and the Roman Empire. The official language of the monarchy was “ Hellenic”. Intermarriages between the Pontos and Macedonian royal families increased the rapid Hellenisation of the ruling classes. So much so that even the coins began to carry inscriptions using the Greek alphabet.

Sinop became the capital of the region; this was already a well-established centre of Hellenic culture. The hegemony of the Hellenic culture enabled Pontos to exercise dominance over other neighbouring ethnic groups.

Between 281-65 BC the Pontos Kingdom was the leading Empire in Anatolia. Even if it was not the only Kingdom it was certainly the most powerful in Anatolia. The Kingdom that started with Mithrates I reached its peak with Mithridates VI and the Kingdom developed into an Empire. From that point onwards that of the first war with the Romans the borders expanded to Cirimea (Blacksea) and to Greece (Egean Sea).

This was followed by a series of wars at regular intervals until the Romans finally invaded Anatolia and the Pontos Empire came to an end.

Of all the ruler of Pontos the most well-known was Mithridates VI because he freed Anatolia from the Romans in 82 BC and create a powerful army and state. This army comprised paid soldiers as well as the inhabitants of Pontos. Some of these soldiers originated from colonies namely, Capadocia, Pflagonia, Ermenia, Khalbia, Tibaren, Kolkhia, Bosphour. It took over 10 years to establish this formidable army. Apart from Greek Mithridates VI spoke 22 local languages. There are numerous references to the achievements of Mithridates VI in Roman manuscripts, for example, that he developed a special antidote, called Theriak, made of a variety of herbs. His fame extends to the 18th century when Mozart based his first opera on the life of the Mithridates VI, performed in 1701. This led to further interest in the life Mithridates VI by other historians.

OF ( OFIS )

This current study on Pontos culture is mainly based on fieldwork carried out in a particular part of Trabzon known as ‘Of’ and in particular, focuses on an area called Erenkoy. It is worth noting that Trabzon was founded prior to establishment both Istanbul and Roman Empire.

The above findings are based on personal observations; one to one interviews with key informants and information derived from local written resources.

This section also includes a summary of the history and cultural background of the people of OF within an overall contexts of the history of Trabzon. An analysis of records taken from the Ottoman time shows how OF people converted to Islam between 1650-1685. According to the writer, for the first time in 350 years, Of people are finally beginning to become aware of their own history.

PONTOS CULTURE

This section consists of four sections.

Folk Literature
The writer collated the legends from OF and neighbouring villages and having interpreting them he identifies the links with Pontos culture. For example, the story of Molla Mustafa can be seen as belonging to the same tradition as Homer’s legends. Further example include the ancient Hellenic prayers, which are still in use in OF. While the villagers are not necessarily aware of the origin of these prayers, they do in fact use them at appropriate occasions in order to try and ward off illnesses and other misfortunes. It is interesting to note that these prayers have no direct connection to either Islam or Christianity.

A number of local songs were also recorded and these have been transcribed in to both Greek and Latin script in the book.

Folklore
Examples of folklore include migration in summer to the highlands with farm animals, marriage ceremonies, children games, traditional foods and other customs. These customs reveal remarkable similarity between the customs of people of Minor Asia and Cocassia.

Nomenclature
In this section all the Trabzon village names are presented with contemporary and historical names. For example in the village Erenkoy place names, family names, nicknames, plants, fruits and cattle names are presented using Greek and Latin scripts.

Ethnography
This section includes a description of a loom and its various parts in the Pontos language as well as a history of its origin. It also includes the names of hand-tools used in the villages in the Pontos language with Turkish meaning.

Pontos Language and OF dialect
Turkey, even today 300,000 people can still speak the Pontos language, which is an old dialect of Hellenic. These people originated from Trabzon and are now scattered all over Turkey and beyond. However these people have little or no awareness of their own language and their ethnic origin. Partly because there are no written records in Turkish about the Pontos language in any of the 60 of Trabzon villages (especially in OF 40 villages). Moreover, there is little or no information or written documentation in Hellenic in relation to this topic.

The first serious attempt to document information about the OF language has been carried out by Omer Asan in this volume.

It is interesting to note that even the people of Erenkoy have very little information concerning the Pontos language, which they refer to as Rumca, Romeika. Until very recently these people used Pontos as lingua franca but now use Turkish as their official language as well as for everyday communication.

Outcomes of the study:
• In response to the question ”which language you speak” the informants gave a variety of answers and these included Rumca, Romeika, Lazca and Latince.
• Elderly people without formal education are not able to distinguish between Turkish and Greek ( Pontos )
• Those who are aware of the differences tend to avoid Greek in front of others.
• When asked to give themselves an identity, they used the terms Turkish or Muslim.
• They use Turk and Muslim as synonyms.
• In the same way, Rum (Greek) and Christian are used synonymously.
• Youngsters nowadays are no longer able to use the Pontos language.
• Even the word Pontos has no meaning for them and their first encounter with this term was during the course of this research.
• When asked about their ethnic origin they claimed to hail from a different variety of geographical locations in Turkey. In other words, there is no possibility of them having Christian roots.

Lexicographical study included in this chapter was conducted in Pontos. Both Greek and Latin alphabet have been used in order to make the research more accessible to other scholars.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study about the Pontos culture published in Turkey. Through the publication of this book, the Pontos people, who have apparently undergone a natural process of cultural assimilation, are in a better position to review their current situation in relation to their historical roots.

In view of the writer’s findings and their subsequent positive impact on fostering harmonious relationship between different but historically linked ethnic groups, the writer has been honoured and presented with an award by the Turkish – Greek Society.