Today at 01:03
Ukrainian Roksolana, the official wife of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent was labeled as a Russian woman in Istanbul. Near her tomb, there was a sign, with an inscription about the Russian origin of Roksolana installed 15 years ago. It happened after the reconstruction of the memorial. Before the repair, however, the information on the plate was correct. Roksolana was Ukrainian.
“The inscription said that Hurrem Sultan was of Russian origin. It would not have been a big mistake if they called her a Ruthenian woman, but it said that she was from Russia,” teacher of Ukrainian history at Istanbul University, Oleksandr Sereda said.
“Her place of birth was indicated as the town of Rohatyn, in Western Ukraine, and for some reason Roksolana’s origin was Russian,” Ukrainian Consul General in Istanbul Oleksandr Haman said.
Over the years, the Ukrainian community in Istanbul has requested the restoration of historical justice. But their requests were heard only after the Ukrainian ambassador officially addressed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with this issue. And only a month later the information on the inscription was changed back.
“History must be objective and truthful. The origin of Roksolana – I do not think that first of all it is the fault of the Ukrainian historians, it is not even propaganda, but a stereotype that has been formed over the years, the perception of all the characters that relate to the Ottoman history as Russians,” Oleksandr Sereda added.
The next stage is changing history textbooks in Turkey. After all, Kyivan Rus is still being translated as Kyivan Russia, artificially tying the history of Kyivan Rus to Russia, not Ukraine.
