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Byzantium and its Contested Heritage in Modern Türkiye

Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: The Byzantine Empire endured for more than a millennium (330–1453) and constituted the longest-lasting and most recent major political entity to rule Asia Minor and Thrace prior to the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the eleventh century. The Seljuk and Ottoman states coexisted with Byzantium for centuries, and this prolonged interaction generated not only political and military conflict but also significant – though often overlooked – cultural affinities and exchanges. Yet interpretations of Byzantium in modern Türkiye have been profoundly shaped by cultural and political agendas and burdened by longstanding prejudices and negative connotations, despite the country's inheritance of a substantial Byzantine cultural legacy. Scholarship has identified a wide range of motivations that have determined the selection or exclusion of particular aspects of the past and, consequently, influenced approaches to heritage preservation. At the same time, practical considerations, such as the physical condition of monuments and their potential for adaptive reuse, together with internationally recognized conservation principles, also play an important role in shaping broader heritage policies and practices. Recognizing that the Byzantine past has never been a politically or culturally neutral field in Türkiye, this chapter examines the principal cultural, educational, and ideological challenges affecting both the interpretation of Byzantium and the preservation of its cultural heritage in modern Türkiye. Focusing on the period from the early Republican era (1920–50) to the present, it investigates how Byzantine heritage has been shaped by shifting political agendas and competing conceptions of the past within broader heritage discourses.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003211518-15
Author: Ufuk Serin
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204248707
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