Recent Russian works on the republic of Turkey

Abstract

For some time, the Soviet Union has constituted a focus for the study of Turkey and the Turks. A recent Bibliografiya Turtsii, Lityeratura na Russkom yazikye (1917-1975 gg.), Bibliography of Turkey: Literature in Russian, 1917-1975 (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1982; 744 pp.), lists 15,797 items published. Over the last few years, in particular, an impressive number of books on the Republic of Turkey have been published in Russian. ' The following selection reflects the wide range of topics covered, which apparently appeal to readers with various interests. R. G. Gachyechiladzye's Turtsiya, Turkey (Moscow Misl' Press, 1983; 126 pp.) is a general work, based on the author's own impressions of this country. In simple language, he describes Turkey's landscapes, history, people, culture, and economics. The discussion is replete with statistics on almost every page evidently based on the Statistical Yearbooks of Turkey. To these, Gachyechiladzye adds his own impressions, which are generally perceptive and outspoken, although not always convincing: for example, his comment that Ankara looks 'as if it was thrown together haphazardly without any general plan' (p.74) rather harshly judges a capital which was so meticulously planned in the late 1920s and the 1930s. A special feature of this book is the large number of clearly labelled colour photographs, most of which are well-selected and appealing, even if not particularly innovative. History is represented by Ochyerki istorii Turtsii, Essays On Turkey's History (Moscow, Nauka Press, 1983; 295 pp.), a collection of three papers: The Middle Ages (ninth to eighteenth centuries) by S.F. Oryeshkova; the modern era (from the end of the eighteenth century to 1917) by Yu. A. Pyetrosyan; and the contemporary period (1917-80) by M.A. Gasratyan. The last-mentioned paper, which is of more immediate concern to us, is also the longest (pp. 164-279). Divided into six consecutive chapters, it presents Turkey's history chronologically up to and including the military intervention of 12 September 1980. As the study must compress so many data into relatively few pages, it focuses on domestic politics without really introducing the socio-economic background which so many Marxist historians consider essential. The only exception is the detailed listing of all workers' strikes, large and small, during the period discussed. Even if they are factually correct (and it would be too time-consuming to check them all), this manner of presentation provides a slanted view, as though these strikes were the most important characteristic of the Republic of Turkey. Yet another over-emphasis (not surprisingly, perhaps) is evident in the author's exaggerated description of Turkey's connections with CENTO and subsequently with NATO, and the attribution of all too many Turkish policy decisions to them. The bibliography (pp.280-93), which combines material