I believe that the relationship between humans and space in Anatolia possesses a unique spirit. What distinguishes this relationship is likely a summary of the memories, joys, and sorrows peculiar to this place, much like each of our own journeys of becoming. After all, whatever it is that we start with when we say “what makes us who we are”—which has been emptied of its meaning over time—is it not the “common denominator of our sorrows and joys”? Our defeats as much as our victories, our interwoven diversity as much as our uniqueness specific to this land... The Muslim Anatolian person, while blending the heritage of this place and developing a new civilization within and alongside what already existed without destroying it, also produced a different paradigm. This situation likely manifested in different ways across the entire Islamic geography. While the Islamic city was being established, it developed a distinct and entirely unique relationship with space and geography. Based on this paradigm, it developed a human-space relationship that puts space in parentheses. The essence that gives meaning to our cities, that we breathe independently of space, and that gives us a feeling of novelty each time, must be this deep intuition and perception that puts space in parentheses. Beyond its physical structure, in the background, it seems impossible for me to comprehend this without thinking alongside a conception of the world that gives the feeling that “everything is in its proper place” and avoids exaggeration and shows of power... In many places across Anatolia and the Balkans, one frequently encounters “milestones” that Islamized that settlement—some legendary, some real—in the form of saints' tombs, shrines, and memorial sites. Even if some of these correspond to a certain reality, they are essentially title deeds that make it possible to establish a metaphysical bond with that space, having been almost sanctified and mythologized in the popular imagination. In the depths of its consciousness, this fairytale-like historical narrative constitutes an important part of the people's sense of belonging and identity in these lands. If we cannot make the breeze of this spirit—which puts space in parentheses—felt against the temptation of tourism, which dumbs down our people who are in pursuit of sensing history with all its falsity, exaggeration, and ostentation, we will be condemned to being refugees in these lands, both spiritually and physically.