Committee Of Union And Progress Research Articles

Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın – an introduction to his life and works

Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın (1875 − 1957) was a prominent and prolific writer who, in 1908, was also the first journalist elected to the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies. He was a member of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) which was in the forefront of Ottoman politics for a period of over 10 years before and during the First World War, and was among the politicians exiled by the British to Malta in 1919 for a couple of years. As a journalist, he witnessed, participated in and wrote about the history and politics of Turkey in several newspapers (including the paper, Tanin, which he part owned and managed) from the time when it was a Sultanate till well after Turkey became a Republic in 1923. He also achieved success with his novels, essays and translations from several European languages. He has been called a perennial dissident because over his long journalistic (and political) career he was not afraid of argument and debate, and rarely changed his stance.

1923 and the legacies of genocide

AbstractThis article discusses the founding of the Republic and the legacy of the Armenian genocide of 1915 in the subsequent decades by scrutinizing two pivotal facets. The first one revolves around the accumulation of capital by the Turkish state through the sequestration of Armenian properties, and the second one is the appointment of mid‐level Ottoman bureaucrats of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) as new civilian bureaucrats of the Republican regime without accountability for their involvement in the Armenian genocide during wartime. Thus, the article argues that perpetrators of this genocide under the CUP regime ascended to the upper echelons of the bureaucracy during the Republican era.

Unutulan Bir Gün: Lozan Sulh Günü/Bayramı

Osmanlı Devleti’nin son 10 yılı savaşlarla geçmiştir. 1911’de başlayan Trablusgarp Savaşı, devamında Balkan Savaşları ile Birinci Dünya Savaşı ve en nihayetinde Anadolu’nun bağımsızlık savaşı. İttihat ve Terakki, Almanya ile ittifak hâlinde girdiği savaşta İtilaf bloğuna yenilmiştir. Savaşı bitiren Mondros Mütarekesi ise imparatorluğa aradığı barışı getirmekten çok İtilaf Devletleri’nin yeni işgallerine zemin hazırlamış ve durum aynı zamanda Anadolu’da bir direnişin başlamasına sebep olmuştur. Başta Mustafa Kemal olmak üzere diğer Millî Mücadele liderleri yıllardır savaşan bir toplumu içeride İstanbul hükûmetine, dışarıda ise emperyalizme karşı örgütlemek gibi oldukça zor bir görevle karşı karşıya kalmışlardır. Kongreler sürecinde şekillenen Misakımillî’nin Osmanlı Mebusan Meclisinde kabul edilmesi 16 Mart 1920’de İstanbul’un işgali ile sonuçlanmıştır. Bunun üzerine Ankara’da yeni bir meclis kurulmuş ve bu meclis Misakımillî sınırları içerisinde tam bağımsız bir ülke için her türlü mücadeleyi göze almıştır. Mudanya Mütarekesi; Millî Mücadele’nin askerî safhasını sona erdirmiş, Sevr Antlaşması’nın yerine geçecek yeni bir antlaşmanın imzalanmasına giden süreci başlatmıştır. Cephede olduğu gibi müzakere masasında da işler İsmet Paşa liderliğinde Türk heyeti için çok zorlu geçmiştir. Galip devletler kaybedilen bir savaşı diplomatik manevralarla kazanmak için çok çaba sarf etmiştir. Türk heyeti de bağımsızlığına gölge düşürecek her görüş ve öneriye şiddetle karşı çıkınca Lozan görüşmeleri bir çıkmaza girmiş ve taraflar masadan kalmak zorunda kalmışlardır. İkinci kez toplanan konferans sonunda Türkiye, nihayet Misakımillî’yi büyük ölçüde gerçekleştirdiği bir barış antlaşması imzalamayı başarmıştır. Lozan Sulh Muahedesi ile sadece Anadolu’nun bağımsızlığı onaylanmamış aynı zamanda 10 yıldır devam eden bir savaş ortamına da son verilmiştir. Bu nedenle 24 Temmuz günü Lozan Sulh Günü/Bayramı olarak uzun süre kutlanmıştır. Kutlamaların konjonktüre göre değişim göstermiş olduğu ve en nihayetinde artık unutulduğu görülmektedir. Bu çalışma unutulan bir günü/bayramı tekrar hatırlamak niyeti taşımakla birlikte ayrıca 24 Temmuz’un unutuluşunu konjonktürel olarak da ele almayı amaçlamıştır.

Freemasonry’s political and diplomatic entanglements in the last phase of Ottoman history: the peculiar case of the Committee of Union and Progress

Freemasonic activity in the Ottoman lands saw an unprecedented growth and dynamism in the final phase of Ottoman history particularly benefitting from its close association with the Young Turk movement and its political apparatus, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Ottoman freemasonry was led to a new level of popularity with a great deal of public visibility, a consequence of which was the formation of the Ottoman Grand Orient as a national organization for the first time in the Ottoman lands. Despite the ensuing controversial accusations and conspiracy theories against the freemasonic institution which became commonplace during the period in question, it occupied a place within the Ottoman state and society which it had never attained before. This made it possible for the Ottoman freemasons to integrate themselves to the universal fraternal discourse of the freemasonic philosophy during a last attempt of the Ottoman administration to keep its remaining lands intact. The intention of this article is to create a window within the broader picture of the socio-political environment of the time with a view to the position and involvement of freemasonry in which its association with the CUP often stands out as a major factor.

"We Do Not Want Spies Anymore": The Abolition of Spying after the Young Turk Revolution

ABSTRACT: One of the first measures taken by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), after assuming power in 1908, was to abolish spying. This has been mostly treated as a simple outcome of the change of power. However, this article offers a different perspective on the abolition of spying in 1908 and the subsequent exile of the spies in 1909. This study focuses on the abolition of spying in the Ottoman Empire as a significant idea shaped since the earlier years of the Young Turks' opposition to the rule of Abdülhamid II and followed strictly as a policy after they assumed power. Rather than treating abolition of spying and the exile of spies as a byproduct of the 1908 Revolution, this study takes it as one of the pillars of the Young Turks' ideological discourse and a central policy of the CUP. The article maintains a thread from the origins of Young Turk aversion to spying to the exile of the spies in 1909 following the 31 March Incident. This research aims to contribute to the social history of the late Ottoman historiography by placing the abolition of spying into a larger context together with its agents– the spies.

Educating Masses: The Committee of Union and Progress Clubs and Schools in the Late Ottoman Empire

ABSTRACT This article examines the social and architectural context of an extensive building campaign in Turkey in the early twentieth century. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), one of the Second Constitutional Period’s prominent political and cultural actors (1908–18), commissioned club and school buildings for social outreach operations. Influenced by their European counterparts, the Committee’s protagonists believed that a social revolution could be accomplished by employing the education of the masses. Moreover, education was also essential to create a national identity for an Empire in a struggle. In this context, many clubs (for adults) and schools (for the youngsters) mushroomed in many cities simultaneously. Accordingly, the architecture of new club and school buildings reflected societal concerns and provided remarkable examples of their kinds. The education of the masses and the use of social propaganda by state agents in Republican Turkey have been scrutinized so far. Still the origins of the social engineering projects should be examined to contextualize Republican period developments. Thus, this article examines the building and impact of the clubs and schools of the CUP in the provinces and constitutes a contextual frame for their formative role in Turkish modernization.

Book Review: Christine M. Philliou, Turkey: A Past Against History. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021.

This book depicts transformation of the Ottoman and Turkish society between the Second Constitutional Monarchy (1908) of the late Ottoman Empire and the 1960s of modern Turkey with a focus on the life and works of Turkish journalist author Refik Halid Karay (1888-1965). Karay is known with his short stories and novels in Turkish literature. Using excerpts from Karay’s newspaper articles, stories, and novels, Philliou shows how an Ottoman liberal criticized the policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the nationalists in Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence and the subsequent regime in the early years of the Turkish Republic. Using the term muhalefet [opposition], Philliou focuses on the transition of Karay from a dissident figure into a discontent patriot. While doing this, Philliou skillfully draws the framework of Turkish modernity between 1908 and 1960.

Perceptions of the Committee of Union and Progress in the press of the Yishuv, 1909-1914

ABSTRACT The policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) towards Zionism and Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine have already been considered in the scholarly literature. The other side of the issue, however, namely how the Yishuv itself regarded the CUP and its policies in general, has not been the subject of a systematic examination. The present study attempts to explore this question by a reading of five different Hebrew newspapers published in Palestine during the period 1909–1914. The findings indicate that the newspapers of the Second Aliyah immigrants and the Orthodox Ashkenazim were more supportive of the CUP than those of the Sephardim and especially the First Aliyah immigrants, depending on the different priorities of each sector within the Yishuv. Regardless of these differences, however, and in spite of the Yishuv’s growing disillusionment with the Unionists already observed by the existing literature, all the newspapers considered here ultimately gave preference to the CUP over the opposition. Among their reasons for this preference were its lack of overt hostility to the Jews and the Yishuv, its identity as the mainstay of the constitutional regime, and its relative superiority in terms of qualified staff, coherence, and socio-economic programmes.

Transformation from the Ottoman State to the Modern Republic of Turkey: The Renewal Party and Karakol

AbstractAfter the end of WWI, the leaders of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) established a political party, Renewal Party, and an underground organization, Karakol, in order to organize a resistance against the Allies and their presence in Ottoman territories. These institutions played an important role in the formation of national resistance in Anatolia before Mustafa Kemal's arrival in the region. The establishment of local resistance forces by former CUP members in Anatolia under the name of Renewal Party and the formation of a network in Istanbul to facilitate the smuggling of weapons, ammunition, former military officers, and Unionists to Anatolia were crucial for the formation of a national resistance movement to be organized under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal after May 1919. This article focuses on these two institutions and their role in Turkish National Struggle.

Perceptions оf “Vital Space” in the Worldview of Union and Progress Committee and the Armenian Genocide

Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), a prominent thinker of political geography, put forward an idea of vital space (Lebensraum) by an analogy between a plant and a state. Developing this idea in the 1890s Ratzel defi ned the vital space as a precondition for a given state to provide proper living conditions for its population, without which the existence, development and further expansion of the state would be impossible. Although Ratzel’s theory was predominantly attributed to the Nazi regime and German quest for land in the East, the theory of Lebensraum could be localized on the Ottoman Empire and the policy of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Juxtaposing the teachings of Ratzel with the ideological propaganda of the CUP as a ruling party from 1908-1918 and the practical steps taken towards the Turkifi cation of the country, the article argues that the Committee’s political vision was more than just a creation of a Turkish nation-state. The formation and development of the perception of the Asia Minor peninsula and the western part of the Armenian Highlands as a Turkish vital space and the practical steps taken towards the maintenance of this land led to the deliberate destruction of the native Christian populations. The article will present the theoretical framework of Lebensraum, the development of the idea of “homeland” among the Turkish intellectual elite, the geopolitical and historical context in which “Anatolia” was chosen as a Turkish vital space. Interwoven with Herbert Spencer’s doctrine of social Darwinism, and its main concepts “struggle for survival” and the “survival of the fi ttest,” Ratzel’s Lebensraum became more comprehensible to political circles, including high-ranking offi cials of the Committee of Union and Progress. The paper discusses the preconditions for the selection of an area, methods of its conquest and maintenance. While the physical cleansing of the vital space from the “opponent” or “alien” population is one of the methods for maintenance of Lebensraum. Taking the Armenian Genocide as a clear example of this method, the article discusses only the economic and cultural inner expansions. The article concludes that the Armenian Genocide was a set of state-planned deliberate measures by the Ottoman government aimed at the physical destruction and full eradication of the Armenians from the Turkish living space and the social and cultural system of the country.

The Education Policies of the II. Constitutional Era

II. Meşrutiyet dönemi her alanda olduğu gibi eğitim alanında da yeni ve önemli gelişmelerin kaydedildiği bir süreçtir. Özellikle Batı tarzı eğitim modellerinin çokça tartışıldığı bu süreçte yönetim İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti’nin elindedir. Memleketin bütün sorunlarının çözülmesi hedefi ile yola çıkmış olan İttihat ve Terakki’nin en fazla önem verdiği konu başlıklarından biri eğitimdir. Bu süreçte eğitim dilinin ne olması gerektiği, okulların denetlenmesi, dini okulların ıslahı, Batı tarzı okulların açılması gibi konular çokça tartışılmıştır. Osmanlıcı bir yaklaşımla bütün bu konu başlıklarında birtakım hedefleri olan İttihat ve Terakki programlarındaki eğitim başlığı altındaki maddelere dayanarak bu hedefleri yerine getirmeye çalışmıştır. Bu çerçevede iş başına getirdiği bazı eğitimciler vasıtası ile eğitimde başarılı dönüşümler yapmak istemiştir. Fakat Osmanlı Devleti’nin kozmopolit yapısı, karşısında keskin bir muhalefetin yer alması ve ekonomik yetersizlikler sebebiyle bu çalışmalar tam manasıyla başarıya ulaşamayacaktır.

Birinci Dünya Savaşı Öncesinde Osmanlı Devleti’nin Dış Politikasını Belirleyen Bazı Şartlar

There are many pre-war developments affecting the foreign policy of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The issue of minorities, the Armenian Project, the Kurdistan Project, the rebellions of the Arab separatists, the project of the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine, the existence of oil in the territories of the Ottoman Empire, and so on. Each of these conditions can also be considered as the conditions affecting the causes of the First World War and the pre-war alliance attempts of the Ottoman Empire. Individual studies have also been conducted on each of these issues. It will be appreciated that the handling and examination of all these issues will far exceed the limits of an article. For this reason, in this article, only four headings of the issues affecting the foreign policy of the Ottoman Empire were discussed and examined. These; The Turkish Foreign Policy in the Historical Process, the Orient Question adopted by the western states gathered in Vienna in 1815, the views of the Committee of Union and Progress (Ittihat ve Terakki), the place and importance of it, and the Issue of Foreign Debts.

Tanin Gazetesine Göre “Çanakkale” Geçilmez

The balance between the big industrializing countries broke down as Germany achieved its unity in XIX th century. The economic and political benefits made German and Austro-Hungarian Empire get closer. England, France and Russia took place against them. The tension between the two groups turned to a battle as crown prince of Austro-Hungarian Empire was killed. Ottoman Empire declared its neutrality proclamation when the war began. Hovvever, after a short while, it joint the war beside of German powers as a result of Enver Paşa’s efforts. Ottoman Army had a heavy loss because of cold weather and diseases in Sarıkamış. On the other hand, Russia started to lose against Germany because of its social and economic problems. England and France decide to pass through the Straits in order to save Russia. They were also planning to end the war. England and France began to implement their plans by making the maneuvers first from the land then from both land and sea with the back up of their colonies. But they sustained defeats one by one in Gelibolu, (Gallipoli) the land to where they came with great expectations, and had to evacuate the peninsula. Newspaper Tanin, the one who advocated that Straits couldn’t be passed as a spokesman of ittihat ve Terakki Committee, watched the maneuver with a great attention. It described the war as a new battle between İslam and Christianity. Throughout the War, it kept dwelling upon the military conditions of both sides and the reasons of the defeats of both allied powers and success of Turkish soldiers via news, comments and the letters which were sent by front correspondents. It called attention on the fake publications of France and England press. It called out the nation on duty for the requirements of the army. It criticized the movements of allied powers those were not obeying the Law of War and they invited the Government to take precautions. They welcomed the Çanakkale Glory with great enthusiasm and evaluated the consequences of the glory for Turkey.

Economic Nationalism of the Committee of Union and Progress Revisited: The Case of the Society for the Ottoman Navy

AbstractThe Ottoman-Turkish historiography has been largely concerned with the economic nationalism of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), which consisted of four doctrines: elimination of foreign dominance on the Ottoman economy, removal of non-Muslims from the economic sphere, creation of a Turkish/Muslim bourgeoisie, and rapid industrialization. Through its focus on the economic activities of the Society for the Ottoman Navy, a CUP-affiliated charitable organization with enormous economic power, the present study investigates how the economic policies of the period can be regarded as a practice of economic nationalism. Based on archival material and in dialogue with secondary sources, this article argues that although the Unionist leadership and intelligentsia employed the language of economic nationalism, the operation of the economy in practice was considerably different from its rhetoric. War conditions, the lack of indigenous capital accumulation, and relations of the Ottoman Empire with foreign powers heavily shaped the implementation of the economic nationalism of the CUP.

20. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Lübnan’da Arap Milliyetçiliğinin Edebiyatçı ve Çevirmen Önderlerinden Birisi: Flîks Fâris

Arap çeviri tarihinde bireysel bir bilimsel etkinlik olarak görülen çevirinin devlet politikası kabul edildiği, devlet tarafından teşvik edilerek desteklendiği, bunun da ötesinde çevirmenlerin siyasi otorite tarafından yönlendirildiği iki dönem vardır. Bunlardan birincisi Abbasi halifelerinden 2. Mansur döneminde başlatılan ve Me’mun döneminde zirveye ulaşarak kurumsallaşan dönemdir. Bu dönemin çevirileri genellikle tıp, kozmografya, mühendislik ve mantık ile ilgili olup, daha çok Farsça ve Sanskritçe gibi ara dil üzerinden Arapçaya yapılmıştır. Bu nedenle dönemi felsefi-tıbbî çeviri dönemi olarak isimlendirebiliriz. İkinci dönem 1773 yılında Katolik Hıristiyan grupların Fransa’dan Lübnan’a göç ederek, burada birçok okul kurmalarıyla başlayıp Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa’nın Mısır valiliği döneminde (1805-1848) zirveye ulaşan dönemdir. Avrupa üniversitelerinin ders kitaplarının ve mühendislik bilimlerinin Arapçaya çevirisine ağırlık verildiği bu dönemi de bilimsel çeviri dönemi olarak isimlendirebiliriz. 1850’lı yıllarda Batıda dil ve çeviri eğiti alarak ülkelerine dönen burslu öğrencilerin Avrupa ülkelerinde tanıdıkları öykü, hikâye, roman, masal, tiyatro, anı, seyahatname gibi edebi türleri Arapçaya çevirmeleriyle başlayan dönemi de edebi çeviri dönemi olarak isimlendirebiliriz. Bu dönemde çevrilen eserler öncelikli olarak özgürlük, eşitlik ve kardeşlik temalarını ele alarak Fransız ihtilalini Arap ülkelerine yaymayı hedeflediğinden bu dönemi ideolojik çeviri dönemi olarak adlandırmak da mümkündür. 1882 Lübnan doğumlu Flîks Fâris edebi/ideolojik çeviri döneminin önde gelen temsilcilerinden birisidir. Şair, hatip, yazar, çevirmen ve hukukçu birisidir. Arap olmasına karşın İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyetinin Lübnan sorumlusudur. Osmanlı devletinin Lübnan’ı idaresine şiddetle karşı çıkmış, bu uğurda başta gazete ve dergiler olmak üzere edebiyat mahfilleri, gizli cemiyetler ve masonik yapılanmalarla omuz omuza mücadele ederek, Suriye ve Lübnan’da Osmanlı karşıtı bir Arap milliyetçilik akımının başlaması ve Arap ulus devlet anlayışın gelişmesi için elinden gelini yapmıştır.

Armenian Refugees in Aleppo: Humanitarian Efforts and Survival Strategies: 1915-1930

This article is an overview study of the international humanitarian response to the refugee crisis between 1915 and 1930 when Syria, and particularly the city of Aleppo, became home to tens of thousands of Armenian refugee survivors forcibly deported during the genocidal program implemented and carried out against the Ottoman Armenians by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government in Constantinople. The objective of this article is threefold: the first is to determine the policies of the various governments of Syria between 1915 and 1930 towards the Armenian refugee population; the second is to examine the humanitarian efforts of international bodies, such as the League of Nations, the International Red Cross and the Near East Relief Society, to provide assistance to refugees; and the third is to identify the strategies refugees employed to ensure survival and to try to rebuild familial and communal ties.

Hürriyete ve Adli Tıbba Adanmış Bir Ömür: Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir Bey / A Life Dedicated to Liberty and Forensic Medicine: Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir Bey

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir Bey (1874-1922) was a forensic medicine specialist in addition to being an important political figure who worked in critical positions in breaking points of the whole world history. He later had to go to Paris because of the political activities he attended since the days he studied in The Faculty of Military Medicine. As he completed his forensic medicine specialization in Paris Faculty of Medicine, the Young Turks movement abroad gained a certain momentum with his arrival.</p><p>He returned to Istanbul after the proclamation of constitutional monarchy and while he was teaching forensic medicine and working as associate dean in the faculty of medicine, he wrote Textbook of Forensic Medicine which is the first copyrighted work in forensic medicine field in our country. He was assigned as the first director of Legal Medicine Directorate. He also worked as the head physician in Red Crescent Hospital in Edirne during the Balkan War.</p><p>He worked in top-level tasks in Party of Union and Progress which was a remarkable party in its period and the political intelligence organization of the period The Special Organization. He also played an active role in the independence of provinces while working in the Caucasian Front in World War I. In addition to being the originator of "Armenian Deportation", he played a role in; its planning during his visits to the eastern cities.</p><p>After World War I, he had to go abroad and was sentenced to death in his absence. His activities attracted attention and he was invited to the Congress of the Peoples of the East of the Soviet Union. After he was killed by an Armenian assassin in Berlin in 1922, Atatürk protected his wife and children in personally and didn't refrain his support and help.</p><p><strong>Öz</strong></p><p>Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir Bey (1874-1922); sadece ülkemiz değil, dünya tarihi açısından da kırılma noktası olan dönemlerde, kritik görevlerde bulunmuş önemli bir siyasi figür olması yanında adli tıp uzmanı bir hekimdir. Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Askeriye’deki öğrencilik yıllarından itibaren içinde bulunduğu siyasal faaliyetleri nedeniyle, sonradan Paris’e gitmek zorunda kalmıştır. Bir yandan Paris Tıp Fakültesi’nde adli tıp ihtisasını tamamlarken, yurtdışındaki Jön Türk hareketi de onun gelişiyle birlikte belirgin ivme kazanmıştır.</p><p>Meşrutiyetin ilanından sonra İstanbul’a dönmüş, tıp fakültesindeki adli tıp hocalığı ile dekan yardımcılığı görevleri sırasında ülkemizdeki adli tıp alanında ilk telif eser olan “Tıbb-i Kanuni Dersleri” kitabını yazmıştır. Kendisinin ayrıca, taşraya atanan hekimlere yönelik rehber niteliğinde yazmış olduğu bir kitap ile ölüm olgusunu işlediği bir başka adli tıp kitabı da mevcuttur. Günümüzdeki Adli Tıp Kurumu’nun ilk nüvesi olarak kurulan “Tababet-i Adliye Şubesi”nin ilk müdürü olarak atanmıştır. Hilal-i Ahmer Cemiyeti’nin yeniden organizasyonunda ve Balkan Savaşı sırasında Edirne’deki Hilal-i Ahmer Hastanesi başhekimliği görevinde bulunarak, tıp alanındaki katkılarını akademi ile sınırlı tutmamıştır.</p><p>Bir döneme damgasını vuran “İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti”nde ve dönemin siyasal istihbarat örgütü “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”da üst düzey görevlerde bulunmuş, 1. Dünya Savaşı’nda Kafkas Cephesi’nde görev alarak; Artvin, Ardanuş ile Ardahan’ın kurtuluşunda bizzat rol oynamıştır. “Ermeni Tehciri”nin fikri ideoloğu olması yanında, doğu vilayetlerine giderek bizzat planlanmasında rol almıştır.</p><p>1. Dünya Savaşı’nın ardından yurtdışına çıkmak zorunda kalmış, gıyabında idama mahkum edilmiştir. Yurtdışındayken sürdürdüğü, Müslüman milletlerin mücadelesine dair faaliyetleri ilgi çekmiş ve Sovyetler Birliği’nin Doğu Halkları Kurultayı’na davet edilmiştir. 1922 yılında Berlin’de Ermeni bir suikastçı tarafından öldürülmesi sonrasında, Atatürk; eşi ve çocuklarına bizzat sahip çıkmış, desteğini ve yardımlarını esirgememiştir.</p>

The 1913 Ottoman Military Campaign in Eastern Thrace: A Prelude to Genocide?

ABSTRACTThis article argues that the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) experimented with methods of mass expulsion for the first time during the Balkan Wars in 1912–1913. The success of these methods of mass violence contributed to their renewed application in World War I. Much has been written about the crimes committed against civilians by Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek armies in this period, but little about the Ottoman operations in Eastern Thrace in 1913. Neither European nor Turkish historiography has examined the issue closely, partly because the Ottoman campaign in Eastern Thrace was very short and of relatively little military significance, and partly because historians interested in the study of violence in the late Ottoman Empire have devoted their attention to the Armenian genocide, which began less than two years after the recapture of Thrace. And yet, it is during this brief period, from July to September 1913, that the Unionist leadership of the Ottoman Empire developed a very specific, new and systematic form of violence that would later be used against other Christian populations, including the Armenians. In this context, the 1913 Ottoman campaign is worth examining closely not just as an important aspect of the Balkan Wars, but also as a prelude to practices that would later be tragically used on a wider scale during World War I and World War II.

Theatres of Violence on the Ottoman Periphery: Exploring the Local Roots of Genocidal Policies in Antep

ABSTRACTThis article explores how and why deportation and elimination of the Armenians of Antep were carried out during World War One (WWI). In particular, it scrutinizes the political and social context in which local authorities, provincial elites, and ordinary Muslims radicalized their views and policies against Armenians. It highlights the crucial role played by local elites and actors who prospered through acquisition of Armenian property and wealth. In this respect, the article argues that the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)’s genocide and deportation decision enjoyed a certain level of social support through the practice of effective power and control mechanism(s) at the local level.

Reluctant Nationalists, Imperial Nation-State, and Neo-Ottomanism: Turks, Albanians, and the Antinomies of the End of Empire

Nationalism's role in the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire is re-examined. Traditionalists blamed the breakdown on the extreme nationalism of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) while today's orthodoxy attributes it to the external contingency of the Balkan Wars and World War I instead. This article looks at the onerous state-building and mild nation-building demands put forth by the CUP toward the Albanians. The Albanian resistance created unstable coalitions that broadened to include north and south, and tempered religion in favor of ethnicity, but fell short of demanding independence. The First Balkan War forced a vulnerable Albania to reluctantly declare independence for which it had made contingent plans. The Ottoman center refused to change course and its pursuit of an imperial nation-state prompted other populations to think and act more ethnically than ever before and draw up their own contingent plans. The concept of ethnicity without groups (Brubaker) and the causal connection between state-building and nationalism (Hechter) are critically assessed in the Ottoman context.