Abdul Hadi Pasha
Banned
First, the attacking force was Arab, not Turkish. Second, although modern Turkey is an industrialized society, that is the result of drawing on Western science and engineering and on the Western industrial revolution. These changes were not initiated by the Turks themselves, nor were they initiated by the Chinese, the Japanese, the Mongols, or any other group outside of Western and Central Europe. In the 8th century AD, however, the West was fragmented and weak; it couldn't even stand up to the small raiding forces of the Vikings in the following century. The only Christian society capable of beating back jihad was the Byzantine Empire, and they did it, just barely. If they hadn't, it is probable that jihad would have conquered all of Europe, and there is nothing in the history of Islam to indicate that an Islamic Europe would have discovered modern science and launched an industrial revolution.
BTW, the Turks, a Central Asian people, only succeeded in establishing themselves in Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert--350 years AFTER the 717 AD Siege of Constantinople. And those were the Seljuk Turks. It was the Ottoman Turks who conquered Constantinople in 1453, establishing an empire that failed to participate in any significant degree in the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the scientific revolution or the industrial revolution. This began to change with Ataturk's reforms in the 20th century and certainly Turkey is in many ways a progressive country today. But I don't believe in ignoring historical facts in the pursuit of political correctness and cultural self-flagellation.
You realize all our science and mathematics came from Islam right? If it weren't for Islam, we would be living in a pre-industrial society.
Ataturk didn't initiate anything. The Ottomans had been undergoing all that reform for a long time; he just "peed" all over them to claim them for his personality cult. As for participation in the Renaissance, you are completely wrong - there was great cross-current between East and West that informed and even sparked the Renaissance.
I don't believe in ignoring historical facts in the pursuit of ideological racism or a smug sense of cultural superiority.