Ghengis Khan was not a Barbarian After All
Sel Yackley, Midwest Correspondent, The Turkish Times - "Contrary to the opinion of the western world, Ghengis Khan was a progressive and brilliant leader" said Maury Kravitz, an attorney who became fascinated by Cengiz Han (as written in Mongolian and Turkish) and has spent most of his adult life becoming an expert on the 13th century ruler. Mr. Kravitz spoke before a record crowd at the home of the Turkish Consul General Yavuz Aktas recently. The talk was sponsored by the Turkish Culture Group of the International Women's Associates (IWA).

Turkish Culture Group of the International Women's Associates was established through the efforts of Fatos Aktas (first row, right) the wife of the Consul General in Chicago two years ago. Members include (sitting from left) Semra Prescott, Sylvia Anas, Mrs. Aktas (back row) Neriman Gezen, Sel Yackley, Muge Hanioglu and Sezgin Uksup. Absent from photo are Meral Bencsh, Julia Beemer and Emel Singer.

In possession of more than 500 volumes on the Mongol Empire, whose people gave their leader the name Cengiz Khan, Mr. Kravitz has visited the Mongolian nation for the last six or seven years, trying to find the emperor's tomb. After he won the trust of present day Mongolian leaders, he was given permission to bring a team of archeologists to do further research. "Mongolia is as large as all of eastern United States (everything east of the Mississippi) but is occupied by only 2 Þ million people---mostly nomads who live very much like they did in 1227, the year Cengiz Han died," said Kravitz. He has been collaborating with noted scholars, including John Woods, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago. He also told the ladies in attendance that he has recently signed a contract with MGM studios in Hollywood for the movie rights to his search for Cengiz Han's tomb.

Cengiz Han was a great leader and a brilliant man because he united scores of tribes to make them into a nation; enabled the creation of a written language by inviting educated, intellectual people from the neighboring Turkic states; created an army that is the prototype of today's U.S. military---resulting in the conquest of scores of countries, including Russia and Hungary, and to the edge of today's Western Europe," said Kravitz. If the Mongolian army had not decided to withdraw when they heard the emperor had died, Germany, France, Italy and even Spain would have been part of the Mongolian Empire, according to Kravitz.

Cengiz Han also was the creator of the Mongolian law, which was very similar to the Ten Commandments, even though he and his people worshiped "the Eternal Heaven" (Blue Sky). The decline of the empire came two generations after his death, when one of his grandsons in charge of the western territory allowed his people to convert to Islam, according to Kravitz. Cengiz Han had told four of his sons, shortly before he died, that the only way to survive would be to stand united and together.

Kravitz was well received by IWA and has a standing invitation. The Turkish Culture Group is comprised of Fatos Aktas, Sylvia Anas, Julia Beemer, Meral Bencsh, Neriman Gezen, Muge Hanioglu, Semra Prescott, Emel Singer, Sezgin Uskup, and Sel Yackley. Of the five culture and seven language groups in IWA, the Turkish programs are very popular, usually with "standing room only crowds since so little is known about Turkey, and there is so much interest now," said Fatos Aktas, co-chair.

The February program, open to members and guests, will be presented by Prof. Aslihan Yener, University of Chicago, on the Hittite Civilization at 8 p.m., Wednesday, February 20, 2002, at Breasted Hall, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.