Ottoman Africa and multiculturalism

New developments and changes occur in the world everyday. Different concept emerge as a result of these developments and changes. The most important and the most popular one among these concepts is perhaps "multiculturalism" which is called as "çokkültürlülük" in our language. In this study, it is aimed to examine the multiculturalism policies of The Ottoman Empire while ruling the African lands. The Ottoman Empire kept together many groups with different religions, languages, races and cultures. The Ottoman Empire had been one of the rare empires that succeed in ruling the groups with different characteristics together with justice and harmony nearly six hundred years. As a result of this success, the expression of the"Ottoman Peace" had been used in the world for the Ottoman Period. Each group continued their existence in peace, prosperity and tranquility within themselves and with other groups thanks to the "Nation System" implemented by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire ruled Africa for centuries with its religious, political, military, social and cultural ties. While ruling Africa, The Ottoman Empire did not interfere in the people's religion, language, tradition, customs, clothing, in other words, cultural values and implemented a policy called "multiculturalism" today.