Sea of Islands? The Aegean?

If we look at a map, we can see that many parts of the world covered by water are called seas. In fact, if we exclude lakes and rivers from the category, all these watery places are connected to each other. So if we set off from one point with a ship, we can visit everywhere and return to the same place. But as I said, while certain places are called seas, larger puddles of water, especially those between continents, are called oceans.

We have given them all different names. The main oceans are the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. 

The most popular of the seas, at least for us, is the Mediterranean Sea. Since it coincides with the southern shores of Europe, which is considered the cradle of modern civilization, the Mediterranean has had an important place in human history throughout history. 

In English, "Mediterranean Sea" means the center of the world in the etymological sense of the word. 

The Mediterranean Sea starts at the Strait of Gibraltar, continues between the coasts of Morocco and Spain, Algeria and France, Libya and Italy, Tunisia and Greece, Turkey and Egypt and extends to the coasts of Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

For some reason we call it the Mediterranean Sea, although its color is deep blue. So if we were to think in terms of color, I think it would make more sense to call it the Blue Sea. Maybe Gökdeniz would be the right name. 

I did some research on the reason. 

It is said that in Turkish history colors were associated with directions, white corresponded to the west, black to the north, red to the south. Blue corresponds to the east. That may be why we call it the Mediterranean. Because according to the general Turkish settlement, it is in the west.

If we accept this naming method as correct, we can understand where the Black Sea and the Red Sea got their names.

The Romans used the term "Mare Nostrum", meaning "Our Sea", based on the act of appropriation. 

But as I said, the name used in Europe is "Mediterranean Sea" meaning the center of the world.

Although we generally call it the Mediterranean Sea, it is actually divided into different regions and each of them has a different name.

The part in front of Spain is called the Alboran Sea, meaning dawn. 

The part in front of France is called the Balearic Sea and the Ligurian Sea. 

The part between Italy and Tunisia is called the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The part between Italy and Serbia-Greece is called the Adriatic Sea. 

The part between Greece and Turkey is called the Aegean Sea.

Recently, the views of various intellectuals have started to attract my attention. 

Contrary to the geography information we learned in our childhood, they have been saying that the name of the Aegean Sea should actually be the Sea of Islands.

So I got curious and did some research.

Yes, when we Turks came to Anatolia, we first reached the western coast of Anatolia in 1081. It is said that we started calling this sea the Sea of Islands because there were so many islands. 

On many maps used in the Ottoman period, the name of this sea appears as the Sea of Islands.

In the book "Kitab'ı Bahriye" completed by Piri Reis in 1519, it is mentioned that the place called "Between the Islands" is called "Erso Peloga".

In other words, it seems that the "Sea of Islands" turned into "Between the Islands" during the time of Piri Reis.

By the way, it is incomprehensible that a genius like Piri Reis was beheaded by Kanuni. Although the Turks' knowledge of geography and cartography was very poor at the time, Piri Reis prepared a magnificent map, and if his book had been appreciated at the time, perhaps we could have been a truly maritime nation today. But let alone his book being appreciated, we had the man beheaded. What a pity! 

Europe opened up to the world in those days and then exploited the whole world. Especially in Portugal and Spain, the establishment of institutions whose sole mission was to prepare maps dates back to those days. Piri Reis also made an offer to the sultan, but his ideas were not valued, even though he was rewarded with several bags of gold for the map and book he prepared. In fact, he was beheaded due to sedition and mischief and was buried among the bitter pages of history along with his ideas. As I said, what a pity! 

Speaking of which, I wanted to remind you of historical facts.

Yes, to return to our subject, in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, the Aegean Sea as we know it was called the Central Mediterranean Sea. 

When Atatürk said "Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean! Forward!" he did not confuse the seas. He said the name of the Aegean Sea used in those days.

So where did this name Aegean Sea come from?

Does it have a mythological meaning?

Actually, there is a forced story about the use of the name Aegean in Greek sources. But as I said, it is a story and a forced definition. According to mythological belief, the name is based on the legend of Aegeus. According to the legend, the son of King Minos of Crete was killed during a feast in Athens. In response, the Cretan king asked Athens to send seven girls and seven boys every year to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull. 

The Athenian king Aegeus, who does not like this, gives his son Theseus the task of killing the Minotaur. If he succeeds in this task, he asks him to hoist a white flag on his ship on his return, and if he fails, he asks him to hoist a black flag. 

The king's son, who goes to Crete, fulfills his mission and kills the Minotaur, who is half man and half bull. On his return, drunk with victory, he confuses the flags and accidentally hoists a black flag on his ship. Seeing this, King Aegeus thought that his son had failed and committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea.

Supposedly, from that day to this day, this sea is called the Sea of Aegeus, or as we use it today, the Aegean Sea.

Some historians say that the name of this sea comes from the Greek word "aiges" meaning waves.

I guess because the Turkish definition of the "Inner Mediterranean" was confused with the Mediterranean Sea, and because the old names "Between the Islands" or the even older "Sea of Islands" were almost forgotten, the name "Aegean Sea" was adopted as the name of this sea, inspired by "Mer Égée", which has also passed into our language from French, inspired by the definition of the Greek minority that once lived in the region, with the intention of standardizing geographical names in the 1st Geography Congress held in 1941.

My personal opinion, as you know, is to clean our language of foreign words as much as possible. 

Sea of Islands is a good option. Between the Islands is not bad either. Both "ada" and "deniz" are Turkish. So if we are going to change it officially, it can be both.

In fact, with a sense of ownership, we can also call it "Bizim Deniz" like the Romans. 

In fact, my preference is "Turkish Sea". There is no "Turkish" name in any of the world's seas. It would be nice to see one of the world's seas named "Turkish Sea" with the eyes of this world.

Although there are those who think that this name should be given to Marmara, one of our inland seas. That could also be possible. 

We have been cruel enough to Marmara, and scientists are still warning that if we don't do something soon, all life will disappear.

Let's clean it up first, maybe it really makes sense to change the name of Marmara to the Turkish Sea later.

Yes, Aegean is a very beautiful name, many people name their children "Aegean". It is one of my favorite names too. But "Sea of Islands" is also a name that suits the Aegean.  

I don't know how many more, but we could convene another geography congress soon and officially recognize the Sea of Islands. Maybe we can also hold a referendum on the issue beforehand.

The choice is yours. My vote will still be for the "Turkish Sea" if it is among the alternatives!

Love and regards to everyone from Moscow.