Abstract This article explores the historical and institutional origins of military coups in Türkiye, tracing their roots well before the republican era, to the late Ottoman Empire. Between 1839 and 1914, the empire undertook military reform, political experimentation, and bureaucratic modernization, which shaped the later republic's civil‐military dynamics. Using a historical‐institutional and comparative framework, the study employs qualitative and narrative‐analysis methods based on Ottoman and republican archival materials, scholarly works related to civil‐military relations in general and in Türkiye, and contemporary studies. The analysis argues that the ideological and institutional patterns of military intervention established during the early period continue to shape the logic, methods, and legitimacy of relations between civilians and the armed services in contemporary Türkiye. It shows that the military's self‐ascribed role as the guardian of the state—and the normalization of coups as instruments of national salvation—originated not solely through the foundation and practices of the Turkish Republic but from developments in political culture and institutional practices created long before.

In 1908, the constitutional revolution led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) brought an end to Sultan Abdülhamid II’s autocratic rule. The restoration of constitutional life created a political vacuum into which multiple elite groups attempted to reassert themselves. Among them was the Kıbrıslızade family – descendants of Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Pasha – who represented the Istanbul-based ancien régime. This article analyzes the conflict between the Kıbrıslızades, as an example of the traditional elite, and the CUP, which emerged as a new political class composed primarily of organized and ideologically driven military and civil officers of Rumelian origin. Grounded in Gaetano Mosca’s theory of the ‘political class’ and Vilfredo Pareto’s concept of ‘elite circulation’, the study explores how the CUP refused to share state power and employed various instruments, including legal manipulation and political violence, to suppress opposition. The rivalry culminated in the Raid on the Sublime Porte on 23 January 1913, during which Tevfik Bey of the Kıbrıslızade family was killed. Drawing on archival documents, contemporary press, and memoirs, this article examines how elite transformation in the late Ottoman Empire was marked not by a peaceful transition but by a deeply contested and violent power struggle.

This article examines the transformation of educational institutions in the Ottoman district of Mardin during the 19th century and early 20th century, with a particular focus on the Tanzimat and Hamidian periods. Drawing upon archival records, provincial yearbooks, and surviving architectural examples, the study explores how education became a strategic tool in the Ottoman Empire’s effort to centralise authority and cultivate loyalty among its diverse provincial populations. The establishment of modern state schools such as ibtidâî, rüşdiye, and idâdî, alongside teacher training colleges, reflected the central government’s intention to standardise education and produce a new class of civil servants. At the same time, traditional institutions such as madrasas and sıbyan mektebs continued to operate, illustrating a layered educational landscape where classical Islamic learning coexisted with modern bureaucratic goals. The article also considers the role of minority and missionary schools, particularly those of the Armenian, Chaldean and Syriac communities, as well as the Capuchin Catholic and American Protestant missionaries, and their interactions with state policy. The article highlights how education functioned as both a political instrument and a contested cultural field in the late Ottoman Empire through the lens of Mardin.

ABSTRACT This study examines Kavurzade Huseyin Celal Bey of Crete, a notable example of meritocratically appointed officials in the late Ottoman bureaucracy. The son of a farmer, Huseyin Celal Bey began his education in Chania and continued it in Istanbul, graduating from the The School of Political Science (Mekteb-i Mülkiye) before ascending the ranks of the civil service. Initially appointed as a teacher in Bursa in 1889, he subsequently held positions such as school principal, director of education (maarif müdürü), district governor (kaymakam), and ultimately achieved the rank of provincial governor. Despite his modest origins, his advanced education enabled his upward mobility in the bureaucracy. For years, he served in remote and challenging regions and was rewarded by the Ottoman central administration for his diligence and discipline. This study aims to sketch a portrait of this late Ottoman bureaucrat. While framed as a biographical essay, it primarily focuses on the professional career of an official who rose through education and competence alone, without patronage or aristocratic lineage, a success story that was rare in the late Ottoman Empire.

Abstract This study examines the life and multifaceted legacy of Veled Çelebi İzbudak (1869–1953)—a Mevlevi sheikh, Ottoman bureaucrat, and key figure in Turkish linguistic reform. Positioned at the intersection of tradition and shifting sociopolitical dynamics, İzbudak’s career exemplifies how Sufi intellectuals actively engaged with and negotiated the ideological and administrative transformations from the late Ottoman empire to the early Turkish republic. By situating İzbudak within the broader historical transformations of his era, the article highlights his engagement with significant reforms, such as the closure of Sufi lodges (1925) and the language reform (1928), revealing his dual role as a preserver of religious heritage and a proponent of modern state-building initiatives. Through an analysis of his memoirs, writings, and official correspondence, this research uncovers how İzbudak reconciled his Sufi commitments with the nationalist ideals of the republic, emphasising his advocacy for Turkish linguistic preservation as a bridge between Ottoman Sufi legacies and the emerging cultural identity of modern Turkiye. Challenging the reductive portrayal of Sufi figures as passive in the face of reform, the study argues that İzbudak exemplifies the nuanced agency of Sufi bureaucrats, offering a deeper understanding of their contributions to cultural, linguistic, and political transformations during a pivotal period in Turkish history.

Until the mid-19th century, Albanians were among the groups with whom the Ottoman Empire experienced the least conflict. However, nationalism—intensified by the French Revolution—began to influence non-Muslim communities in the Empire from the early 19th century onwards. As the Empire faced growing economic, military, and administrative challenges, alongside increasing demands for autonomy and independence across the Balkans, the idea of nationalism also began to take root among Albanians, particularly through the Albanian elites. In this atmosphere of rising nationalism, the demand for education in the Albanian language evolved into a major point of contention between the Ottoman administration and Albanian nationalists. While the Ottoman authorities opposed Albanian-language education on the grounds that it would undermine the ideal of "Ottoman unity," Albanian nationalists—believing the Empire’s days in the Balkans were numbered—saw it as an essential step toward establishing "national unity." This article explores the emergence of Albanian nationalism in the late 19th century as both a reaction to other Balkan nationalisms and a challenge to Ottoman central authority, with a particular focus on the struggle over Albanian-language education.

This article examines the life and career of Mustafa Adil (1871-1904), a pioneering Ottoman veterinary physician, bacteriologist, and educator whose contributions significantly shaped the modernisation of public health and veterinary science in the late Ottoman Empire. Educated at the Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine in France, Adil played a leading role in developing diphtheria serotherapy and collaborated extensively with Maurice Nicolle on research into rinderpest, malaria, and the vaccinia virus. His laboratory achievements, combined with his leadership roles at the Imperial Veterinary Bacteriology Institute and the Civil Veterinary School, positioned him at the forefront of the professionalisation of veterinary medicine in the Empire. By tracing Adil's education, scientific work, and institutional influence, this study highlights his pivotal yet largely overlooked role in the transnational circulation of medical knowledge between Europe and the Ottoman world.

Abstract: This article analyzes the status of the late Ottoman Empire in the European international order through an actor of both local and global historical dimensions, the Black Sea Lifesaving Service. This service was established by European powers in 1866 to provide assistance in the event of shipwrecks at the entrance to the Bosporus and was administered by an international organization from 1881 on. The article argues that this form of interimperial intervention by an international organization into local Ottoman lifesaving structures can be seen as an instance of Western interference in the sovereign affairs of the Ottoman Empire, justified on humanitarian grounds. Western actors interpreted the Ottoman Empire’s inability or unwillingness to provide adequate lifesaving services as evidence of its inferior “civilizational” status and the need for intervention and modernization, a logic understood and acted upon by Ottoman authorities.

From the Late Ottoman Empire to the Early Republic of Türkiye: Institutional Trajectories of Trade and Industry Banks in Türkiye (1910–1938)

This article aims to examine the financial entitlements of Ottoman diplomats – specifically their salaries, expense allowances, and contingency funds – using archival evidence from Ottoman records. It focuses on the late nineteenth-century reforms, particularly those related to the restructuring of the Ottoman diplomatic service, which sought to professionalize and secure the financial stability of diplomats. The study argues that these reforms ensured diplomats’ financial security and, at the same time, played a crucial role in strengthening the state’s administrative framework by promoting transparency and reducing corruption. By examining three key categories of income – regular salaries determined by hierarchical positions and regional strategic importance, supplementary payments for extra responsibilities, and mission-related allowances – the study provides a comprehensive analysis of how these financial reforms contributed to the modernization of the Ottoman bureaucracy. It highlights that the strategic management of diplomats’ financial entitlements was essential in improving the operational effectiveness of the diplomatic corps and in advancing broader institutional reforms within the state. Ultimately, the findings suggest that the state’s deliberate approach to managing diplomats’ finances enhanced both the functionality of its diplomatic missions and the overall development of Ottoman governance in the late nineteenth century.

Abstract This article argues that the late Ottoman Empire saw the rise of a novel concept of difference, the “millet,” that fundamentally reordered the lives of the empire’s many subjects. Rather than a term with clearly identifiable content—“religion,” “nation,” “ethnicity,” or otherwise—millet should be understood instead as auguring the emergence of history as the organizing principle of the late Ottoman politics of difference. Unlike the Islamic distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim that had previously structured Ottoman rule, the millet paradigm did not stipulate any predetermined set of terms through which difference had to be articulated. Instead, it issued an injunction to Ottoman subjects to merely say who they were, to declare the name they went by—to confess. This simple injunction, however, which appeared to require nothing other than assent to the reality of history itself, tended to misfire. When it did, Ottoman subjects confronted the anxious truth that history—the purported ground of the millet paradigm of difference—was no ground at all.

This study introduces into scholarly circulation a little-known archival document—likely the first priestly register of the Adrianople Diocese, compiled by the local Bulgarian metropolitanate in 1897. The document has not been used in academic research until now, as it has been preserved in a disordered state. In the present publication, the register is “reassembled” for the first time in a form suitable for scholarly use. It is of particular value because it contains a list of parish priests in the Adrianople Diocese along with their social characteristics. Keywords: Bulgarian Exarchate, parish priests, name list, diocese of Adrianople, late Ottoman Empire.

Abstract This article highlights the importance of softa (medrese or madrasa students) to our understanding of the late Ottoman Empire. The softa, usually depicted as a wholly conservative force, were in fact split between liberal and conservative factions. To ally himself with the Muslim conservatives and undermine the liberal Muslims, Abdülhamid ii condoned violence against the Armenian population. The softa were motivated by diverse ideologies, ranging from the liberal-egalitarian to the conservative-hierarchical. For nearly a century, between the destruction of the Janissaries in 1826 and the closure of the medreses in 1924, the softa were key actors in Ottoman political life, often employing placards to broadcast their ideas. In 1876 they contributed greatly to the struggle to implement an Ottoman constitution and to bring Midhat Pasha back to power. Abdülhamid ii was well aware of the threat they posed to authoritarian governance and sought to control them through patronage and exile. Alongside the broader story of Muslim opposition, new insight might be gained on why the Ottoman government sanctioned the massacres against the Armenian population between 1894 and 1897.

Libraries are social institutions that collect and preserve the national knowledge of the society in which they are located and pass on the products of cultural heritage to future generations. These institutions are established by the state, private institutions or non-governmental organizations in order to meet all kinds of information needs of individuals. In our country, in addition to public, private sector and minority libraries, there are also different types of libraries established by foreigners through various organizations. It is known that hospitals, churches, libraries, orphanages and many social institutions were established by foreigners during the Ottoman Empire. Among these institutions, especially the schools, hospitals and orphanages established by missionary organizations had many positive and negative effects on the economic, social and political texture of the period in which they were located. There was an intense influx of missionaries to the Ottoman country in the 19th century and these mission organizations established libraries that we can call modern for that period. One of the most important structures operating in the geography of the Ottoman state is the American missionary organization called ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions). This missionary group established hospitals, orphanages, churches and schools and carried out important studies especially on Armenian minorities. The study examined the Central Turkey College, which was founded by missionaries in Gaziantep (the city was called Antep at the time) in the late Ottoman Empire in Turkey and provided a very advanced educational service for that period, and the Central Turkey College Library, which also housed important medical resources. The reason for examining this library as a research subject is that it has a developed library structure that supports scientific studies in many different fields for that period, together with the medical school and higher education units it hosts. In addition, this developed library system and the content of the collection allow this library structure to be evaluated as a cultural heritage. The information obtained within the scope of the study was evaluated with the descriptive analysis method. In addition, the lack of sufficient studies on the subject addressed in the information and document management literature increases the importance of the study. It is evaluated that the study will create awareness in this field. As a result of the study, an attempt is made to draw a portrait of the Central Turkey College library, where there is a reward system in the library, the librarian holds an important position in the college management and there are tens of thousands of books.

This study examines the development and progression of translation activities in Türkiye from the late Ottoman Empire to the early Republican era. It also explores how the Empire’s rich cultural and linguistic diversity laid the groundwork for significant translation practices that shaped Turkish literature and intellectual thought. Furthermore, it analyses how the translation efforts that accelerated during the Republican period contributed to the construction of a new national identity in the nascent Turkish Republic. The study addresses how the translation activities carried out by the Translation Bureau contributed to Türkiye’s cultural modernization and nation-building processes; how the objectives and modalities of translation evolved from the Tanzimat (Reformation) period to the Republican era; and how the Bureau functioned within the Turkish literary system. The research employs a historical-descriptive method and is based on archival documents, translated texts from the period, writings of translators, and secondary literature. The theoretical framework is informed by Even-Zohar’s Polysystem Theory and Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies. Within this framework, the analysis investigates how translated texts were positioned within the literary system and shaped according to target-oriented translation norms. The findings reveal that the Translation Bureau was not merely an institution dedicated to introducing Western classics into Turkish, but also served as an ideological agent in the reconstruction of national identity. Its translation activities not only contributed to the formation of the literary canon but also facilitated the cultural consolidation of Republican ideals.

Ahmet Ağaoğlu, who lived during the late Ottoman period and the early years of the Turkish Republic, was a prominent thinker recognized for his reformist, modernist, and secular approaches to social, religious, and political issues within the Turkish-Islamic world. Raised in a traditional Shia environment, Ağaoğlu viewed religion as a matter of personal conscience and a tool for social cohesion, interpreting its role in fostering societal integration. This article analyzes Ağaoğlu’s views on religion and society from a sociological perspective. The study examines his perspective on religion's social function, the necessity for reform in Islam, and women's rights while emphasizing the connection between these ideas and the social structure of his time. The research employs indirect observation methods that include documentation and textual analysis. By exploring Ağaoğlu’s works and other contemporary written sources, the study contextualizes his ideas within their societal framework. Ağaoğlu’s emphasis on reinterpreting religion as both an individual and a socially cohesive force is highlighted; he viewed religion not as an obstacle to modernization but as a means of promoting individual and societal development. This article aims to contribute to the literature on Turkish-Islamic modernization by providing a detailed discussion of Ağaoğlu’s ideas within the context of sociology.

Kemal Tahir is a significant novelist who witnessed a critical era, from the late Ottoman Empire to the early years of the Turkish Republic, a time when social and political realities were being transformed. The period he experienced continuous to have sociological, political, and socio-economic impacts that persist to this day. Consequently, his observations on Turkish society remain relevant in many respects. He continues to be an influential intellectual, offering an alternative interpretation of official historiography by blending literature, history, and sociology. His handling of events, versatility, and original perspectives provide readers with unique insights. This study examines seven books by Kemal Tahir between 1955-1980. These books, recently republished in chronological order by Ketebe Publications in 2022 under the series called "1890-1945 Turkey," include; A Castle of Property (Bir Mülkiyet Kalesi), Tired Warrior (Yorgun Savaşçı), People of the Captive City (Esir Şehrin İnsanları), Prisoner of the Captive City (Esir Şehrin Mahpusu), Wolf Law (Kurt Kanunu), Crossroad (Yol Ayrımı), and The Seed in the Steppe (Bozkırdaki Çekirdek). The study focuses on Kemal Tahir's seven novels, totaling over three thousand pages, and the author's characteristics which can be viewed as ‘social types’ representing Turkish people and society. Drawing on Georg Simmel's conceptual framework of social types, the study aims to explore how Kemal Tahir's depiction of characters reflects broader societal norms and values. Additionally, it seeks to analyze the political and cultural influences that motivated Tahir to write these novels and their impact on the construction of social life.

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of education in shaping new ideals of womanhood in the Late Ottoman Empire, focusing on the women’s magazine Kadınlar Dünyası (1913–1921). By utilising George Mosse’s conceptualisation of stereotypes as positive constructs together with David Tjeder’s countertypes, the study investigates how the emerging ideal of an educated Turkish woman was portrayed and how education influenced power relations among women. I argue that the roots of the ideal modern Republican woman can be traced back to discussions on women’s education and status in the modernising Ottoman Empire. By analysing articles and visual elements, I highlight the multifaceted nature of these ideals and the complex formation and relationship of stereotypes and countertypes. This study contributes to the scholarship surrounding women’s education and press by demonstrating how educational discourse provided a platform for women to influence sociopolitical changes, ultimately fostering the emergence of a modern Turkish identity.

Credit relations in the Ottoman Empire developed within the framework of the Islamic prohibition of riba. In this context, murabaha, was used by the Ottomans in the sense of a legitimate (free from riba) return on loans along with its classical jurisprudential meaning. However, especially since the second half of the nineteenth century, murabaha was also burdened with the meaning of usury, which signifies riba. This article aims to analyse the transformation of murabaha in the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire and examines how meanings changed and transformed as a result of social reality permeating daily language. In this context, Ottoman credit terminology and the socio-economic history of credit relations will be analysed in the Late Ottoman Empire. Archival documents, writings of Ottoman authors in newspapers and books, translations from foreign languages and dictionary sources as well as sharia court records and fatwas will be used in the research. In the light of the mentioned sources, it is aimed to correct some misconceptions in Ottoman historiography regarding credit relations. In addition, the development of credit relations in the Ottoman Empire and how these relations were shaped will be revealed by tracing the evolution of murabaha in Ottoman history.

The article analyzes the path of large-scale legal reforms in Turkey over the past century and a half, aimed at changing the identity of the country and society, namely, the transition from the Islamic legal system to the modern legal system of continental (Roman-Germanic) law. The reasons and context of reform efforts in the late Ottoman Empire and during the transition to the Turkish Republic are given. The main emphasis is placed on civil law reforms, since it is this that is the identifying feature of belonging to continental law, embodying the dogma and style of the latter. The codification process for the creation of the Civil Code of Turkey of 1926 is analyzed. The nature of the borrowing of the content of this code from Swiss legislation, which was a literal translation of the Swiss Civil Code and the Swiss Law of Obligations, is determined. The Turkish Civil Codes of 1926 and 2002 are compared. The article points out the Islamic revisionism that threatens the continental legal system, which has been taking place in Turkey in recent decades. The Turkish legal system, despite centuries of reforms, has again found itself at a crossroads. It turned out that the reform efforts aimed at borrowing foreign law are extremely insufficient. Even the literal reproduction of the content of foreign sources of law and the disciplined application of these prescriptions by judges and other lawyers are not able to create an effective legal system. Such law will be perceived as alien by the majority of the population. Much more is needed, namely the transformation of modernized law into the cultural experience of the people. Law has the power to change society if it itself ceases to be associated exclusively with the state and coercion by power. Law should become the property of the people, that in which the people find expression of their aspirations and dreams. The uncertainty of the future of the Europeanized legal system and Turkey should motivate them to create their own law with the help of their own thinking. Europe and Europeanness cannot be limited to the dogma of law. And they turn out to be that which is incapable of transplantation from one legal culture to another. This should be an experience that Ukraine should take into account for the successful Europeanization of society and the state.