Before our very eyes, the discipline of history is undergoing a terminal degradation. The writing of history books is turning into scripts for science fiction films.
I made it a rule long ago to occasionally read books by Turkish and Azerbaijani authors. Recently, I came across two such titles. In a Turkish book about “delicious and healthy food,” I read the following: “Baklava first appeared in Turkey in the 8th century BC, gaining immense popularity among both the local population and visitors. Indeed, Greek sailors and merchants—captivated by the delicate flavor of this Turkish sweet—introduced it to their own homeland, Athens.”
The 8th century BC—can you believe it?!
I was so dumbfounded that, for a moment, I even stopped sipping my tea and eating my Armenian gata.
The next book—penned by an Azerbaijani historian (forgive me for such language, Lord)—named Ismail Mahmud, was published in 1995 by the Azerbaijan State Publishing House. The title of the book is, in itself, endearing in its sheer modesty: History of Azerbaijan: A Brief Overview from Ancient Times to 1920. As the saying goes, we should just be grateful that the “overview” is at least brief.
Fearing for the mental health of my subscribers, I will cite just two excerpts from this “masterpiece.” “In the late 2nd and early 1st millennia BC, the lands of Azerbaijan were inhabited not only by Azerbaijanis but also by other tribal groups.”
How about that! What magnanimity Ismail displays by graciously allowing other people to live on “Azerbaijani lands” back in the 2nd millennium BC! Yet, in the very next paragraph, the author delivers the finishing blow: “These other tribal groups were, in fact, Turkic-speaking tribes that had been residing within the territory of Azerbaijan since the 6th millennium BC.” With effortless ease, the author completely outdoes the Turks and their 8th-century BC baklava. I once found myself wondering: why is the sharp population growth witnessed in Turkey and Azerbaijan over the last 50 years not accompanied by a corresponding surge in spiritual and intellectual achievements? Then, I read an article edited by Professor Mary-Claire King titled “The Genetic Structure of the Turkish Population.”
The article cites two indicators that may well hold the key to the answer.
First: “The rate of consanguineous marriages in Turkey and Azerbaijan is extremely high, ranging from 26% to 36% of all marriages contracted.”
And second: “The majority of consanguineous marriages occur between first cousins—accounting for 66.3% of all marriages between relatives.”
By way of comparison, in Western Europe and the Americas, the rate of marriages between relatives is less than 2%.
It seems this explains a great deal—including the aforementioned “history books” penned by the aforementioned “historians.”
