Ottoman Empire

The rule of law entails that government and the laws it makes serve the public good and facilitates equal opportunities. The requirement that the state conform to the rule of law puts substantial limits on governmental power which serves to protect citizens from arbitrary action or the imposition of unjust laws. The ‘law’ referred to in the rule of law concept is thus not whatever issues from legislatures and courts, but rather ‘a particular kind of restraint on the use of force’ or arbitrary power. It is not an ‘imaginary’ used by the government towards their equally imagined ends and imposed on the people. Likewise, the rule of law is not the sole prerogative of the government but requires the commitment of its citizens to adhere to and uphold the rule of law. Therefore, in rule of law societies corruption is not prevalent and does not impinge on the daily life of the individual. The inception of the rule of law in Islamic societies arose from the fact that God’s Laws were supreme, not the laws made by any man, or group of men, whatever his/their position. Is a return to the rule of Law possible for Muslim societies?

After demonstrating Ottoman Empire and attempt of Turkish emperors in order to gain caliphate and government of all Muslims, World’s political geography witnessed the demonstration of great Ottoman Empire for six months. The formation of Ottoman Empire, on one hand, was converted to the main axis of the political geography of the region, and started competing with other political power districts of the world on the other hand. This went on for ages. By the end of the world war first, the world’s political formation was altered and the disintegration of the great Ottoman caliphate occurred by Sykes-Picot agreement in 1917 and this led to the beginning of the advent of a new political geography. By getting into power, Turkish Islamists caused a new era in the region’s political geography in 2002. New neo- ottoman idea with the aim of changing the political geography of the region is included to be one of the most important political events of the region. In this paper, by having a quick look at the record of Ottoman Empire, we are going to focus on the new strategy of Turkish AKP and inspect the effect of the strategy on changing the political geography of the region.