Sultan Abdulhamid according to Yılmaz Öztuna

Yılmaz Öztuna was one of the greatest Turkish historians of the 20th century. The following is a translation of the Title and Summary sections of an article he published in Türkiye (daily newspaper in Turkish) on 23-24 April 1991 (Yılmaz Öztuna, Tarihten Portreler, 23-24 Nisan 1991). 

See also 

https://tarihihakikatlar.blogspot.com/2021/01/ylmaz-oztuna-sultan-abdulhamid-hakknda.html

Indeed, he was not an enemy to anyone; he was only defending his Empire as a sovereign and Islam as a caliph

SULTAN ABDULHAMID

He faced much opposition from the Turks. Especially the enlightened youth in higher education, primarily military and medical students; they did everything to overthrow the sultan. They wanted power.

The Jews, because he did not allow the establishment of Israel; the Armenians, because he did not allow the establishment of Armenia; the Greeks, whom he defeated in war; the Westerners, who were dizzy from being constantly outmaneuvered by the caliph’s political combinations; and the British, who were wary of his prestige in Asia—all collaborated to overthrow Sultan Abdulhamid.

Today, no [Turkish] leader openly speaks against Sultan Abdulhamid. They would lose votes in all the provinces of Anatolia. It is now the turn of our intellectuals. They, too, will be enlightened as they investigate. No one calls him “the Red Sultan” anymore. Everyone knows that this label was given by a French historian.

Armenian Soldiers Massacre Hundreds of Fleeing Families

 

Azeris hunted down and shot

 

West ignores sufferings of Turks, Muslims

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on massacre and persecution that Muslim Turks faced when they were forced to flee Bulgaria to Turkey during the 1877-78 Russo-Ottoman war, William Holt said the magnitudes of persecution in that period is not sufficiently known either in Turkey or in the international arena.

He said the West deny sufferings of Muslims, adding the reasons behind this are orientalism, hostility towards Turks and Islam, and the Christian lobbies in the West.

Holt went on to say the incidents happened during the war are reflected unilaterally.

The 1877-78 war saw the Ottoman Empire lose territory to Russia in the Caucasus while other Orthodox Christian nations secured independence in the Balkans.    

Muslims who were forced to flee from Bulgaria to Turkey, took refuge in several mosques -- including Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) -- in Istanbul, the historian noted.

Depicting the stories of immigrants through the painting of a Hungarian painter, he said: "In this painting, you can see the refugees inside the Hagia Sophia. In 1877, there were around 8,000-12,000 refugees in Hagia Sophia for around 4 months. These immigrants were very sick."

Children, elderly men, and women can be seen in the painting, he said, adding this is perhaps a forgotten story of Hagia Sophia. There is a surprising and important story of Hagia Sophia being a refugee shelter.

Also commenting on the 1915 events during the Ottoman era, he noted when the Muslims are oppressed, the West said it is a civil war, but when the Christians are oppressed they call it a “genocide”.

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Speaking at the event -- entitled the Balkan Losses: Forgotten Immigrants of The Russo-Turkish War -- held by the Turkish Historical Society, Holt said there is a lot of false information about the influence of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, adding Turks have always been depicted as cruel in the West.

“According to the West, the Turks were always cruel and were never oppressed. The West has never seen Turks as victims or oppressed,” he said.

Historian Holt also presented his latest book "The Balkan Reconquista and Turkey's Forgotten Refugee Crisis" at the event.

The book uncovers the difficulties faced by Turks who were forced to migrate during the 1877-78 Russo-Ottoman war. Also, in his book, Holt tells the story of the suffering of Muslims during migration, and what they went through after coming to Istanbul during the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–1878.

The first to slaughter were the Armenian nationalists

Maxime Gauin:

The first to slaughter were the Armenian nationalists, between November 1914 and April 1915. This is an excuse for nothing, this is a fact. Sean McMeekin, “The Russian Origins of the First World War”, Cambridge (MA)-London: Harvard University Press, 2011.

Michael A. Reynolds, “Shattering Empires. The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires, 1908-1918”, Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Muslims Massacred by Armenians in Rawanduz

 

Kurds Massacred by Armenians

Jeremy Salt, "The Unmaking of the Middle East," Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: University of California Press, 2008, p. 67:

(Source: Maxime Gauin)