Ottoman Heritage Research Articles

Pathways to Modernity: Ottoman Reforms Before and During the Tanzimat

This study analyses the modernisation efforts within the Ottoman Empire during the pre-Tanzimat and Tanzimat periods, examining the intricate balance between Westernisation and genuine modernisation strategies. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Ottoman Empire faced significant military, economic, and administrative challenges, prompting a decisive shift towards comprehensive reforms in socio-cultural, military, and administrative domains. These profound reforms were primarily driven by the imperative to address the empire's perceived backwardness in comparison to Europe and to safeguard its territorial integrity. During the Tanzimat period (1839-1876), the Empire undertook extensive reforms in governance, fiscal policies, and civil rights, particularly through the Gülhane Hatt-ı Hümayunu and the Islahat Fermanı. While these reforms laid the groundwork for subsequent modernization efforts, they encountered substantial resistance from entrenched social and political structures and were subject to intense scrutiny. This article meticulously examines the inception of the Ottoman Empire's modernisation process, elucidating the Empire's strategic efforts to advance and sustain modernisation amidst the intricate balance between the influences of Western modernity and the preservation of Ottoman heritage and traditional values. Within this framework, it underscores the continuity of reforms and modernization from the late 18th century through to the Republican era.

The Ottoman Brăila after Adrianople – a plan, profiles and facades from 1830

ABSTRACT A plan of the Ottoman city of Brăila (İbrail) and a drawing with profiles and facades from 1830 are preserved at the State Military-Historical Archive of Russia. These sources are important in that they reproduce the image of an Ottoman city before the systematization works, works that led to the demise of the Ottoman heritage. This study analyses the two sources mentioned above.

Modern Life-Building as a Biopower Strategy: Developing Sports Spaces in Urban, Rural and Industrial Areas in Turkey

In the early Republican period of Turkey (1923–1945), the newly established state provided a biopolitical agenda for developing modern and secular life in order to break the Ottoman heritage religious-traditional social structure. Thereupon, sports, as an indicator of modernization, took an important place in the biopolitics of the regime. Sports spaces were instrumentalized as a medium where biopower infiltrated to build a modern life. In order to effectively accomplish the modern life-building project, the Republican Regime invited international modernist architects to insert sports spaces into the social realm in urban, rural, and industrial areas. Accordingly, this paper explores sports-related spaces as a biopolitical agenda of the Republican Regime in the discourse of planning the city of Ankara and rural and industrial areas. Exploring history through the lens of sports reveals how the city of Ankara and rural and industrial areas formed a spatialized approach to the Republican Regime as a biopower to develop modern life.

Ottoman heritage in Serbia on a cultural route: students’ attitudes

Cultural heritage is an important part of the cultural identity of any nation. The care of cultural heritage includes the protection and preservation of the material heritage of the majority nation and the heritage of all other ethnic communities that have left their cultural traces in the area under consideration. The protection of cultural heritage reflects the maturity of a society. That’s why the approach to the protection of cultural monuments should not be selective, narrow and strictly national, but comprehensive, preserving the cultural values of earlier eras and peoples as a general civilisational asset. The research aims to reveal how today’s youth perceive the Ottoman heritage in Serbia, their emotional relationship with it, and whether they recognise the Ottoman heritage as a possible resource for tourism in Serbia. The results indicate that the student population perceives the positive aspects of the Ottoman era in this region, as reflected in the legacy of Oriental culture and the multi-ethnic and multicultural order, to a large extent. Architectural heritage, gastronomy and intangible heritage (language and literature, legends, music, dances, traditions) are largely recognised as representative of the Ottoman cultural heritage and foreign influences on national culture. Their potential for tourism has also been recognised. However, the possible obstacles in the development process of the cultural route are foreseen in strong nationalism and negative collective memory, which were identified as key barriers.

The Mudros Armistice. The Armenian Question and British Diplomacy

The Ottoman Empire came out of World War I defeated. The representative of Great Britain signed the armistice agreement with the Turks in the port of Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos. With that, the Turks were subject to capitulation. The terms of the Mudros armistice also had an impact on the Armenian Question. During the war, the Turks organized the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian territories under Ottoman rule (Cilicia and 7 provinces of Western Armenia) were completely ethnically cleansed. Out of 2.5 million Ottoman Armenians, 1.5 million were killed and 1 million became refugees. The task of this study is to demonstrate how Cilicia was immediately liberated from the Turks by the agreement of Mudros and the Armenians were able to return to their homeland, but Western Armenia was not liberated, which led to the emergence of the Kemalist nationalist movement and the failure of the Armenian Question. The article covers the negative consequences of the conditions of the Mudros armistice in the failure of the Armenian Question. The problem has never been considered from this point of view by historiography. Analyzing facts, the article shows that it was due to the intrigues of British imperialist diplomacy, which was directed primarily against France. However, it also aimed to block Russia’s way from the Caucasus to the south. The British tried to achieve their far-reaching goals through another power – the United States. The work mostly refers to archival materials and documents, also drawing on some studies related to the topic. The article is built on comparative and critical analysis, observing the principles of objectivity and historicity. Many representatives of Western and Russian historiography have addressed the Franco-British contradictions over the Ottoman heritage. Armenian historians have also referred to some aspects of the issue in question. In the study, facts previously published for different purposes are presented in a new way. The problem was set to show the influence of the British far-reaching aims on the Armenian Question.

Perceptions of Contested Ottoman Heritage in Europe: An International Study among Students

ABSTRACT The paper applies a quantitative approach to investigate students’ perceptions of Ottoman heritage in five countries (Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary) along a recently developed cultural route of Ottoman heritage in Europe. It deals with overall perceptions of Ottoman heritage and its subjective recognition as part of the common cultural heritage on a national scale, within the Balkans, and in Europe. The study is conducted online with 627 students in various professional fields and different levels of study. Findings partially support existing literature that highlights the unfavorable situation of Ottoman heritage in the Balkans due to historical reasons, political connotations, and problems of public acceptance. The study reveals generally restrained perceptions of Ottoman heritage but also attitudes becoming more positive when it is closer and clearer related to tourism. Interesting distinctions based on the participants’ nationality and profile are uncovered. Conclusions are drawn about the contested nature of Ottoman heritage and the opportunities for its utilization for cultural tourism development, which is strongly connected not only to the historical past but also to the current policy that should not serve dubious geopolitical agendas but show mutual respect and reciprocity in support of true diversity, pluralism, and tolerance.

Soft power in Turkey's foreign policy in Europe

Since the mid-2000s, under the rule of the Justice and Development Party, Turkey has included the concept of soft power in its foreign policy agenda. Based on the position of Turkish officials, the practical implementation of soft power is based on public diplomacy, with its “infrastructure” being created at the same time by establishing new or transforming existing state structures in partnership with non-governmental organisations. Ankara has developed the main directions for public diplomacy to be based on interaction with its Turkish people living abroad and closely related Turkic peoples, the preservation and revival of the cultural, historical and material heritage of the Ottoman Empire, and the support of the Muslim community in different parts of the world. In addition, in recent years, relatively new directions have emerged, such as struggling against FETÖ and extension of coverage of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. One of the regions where the Turkish public diplomacy was implemented was Europe. The latter was divided into three sub-regions: the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. The Balkan countries were traditionally considered important regions for Ankara with the core goal to break old historical and cultural prejudices about its image and to form a positive one in the eyes of the public. With regard to Eastern Europe, Turkey, skillfully using the Ottoman heritage and/or the Turkic factor, exerts influence in Hungary, Moldova, and Ukraine. And the activity in Western Europe is more based on interacting with the Turkish diaspora. Therefore, the aim of the study is to reveal the main directions of Turkey's public diplomacy in the context of the implementation of the policy of soft power in Europe.

UTILIZATION OF OTTOMAN TANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN NORTHERN CYPRUS FOR TOURISM PURPOSES

The aim of this study is to bring to light the tangible Ottoman cultural heritage in Northern Cyprus and to contribute to its utilization in cultural tourism. In the introduction section of the study, the history of the island of Cyprus is discussed, along with the examination of the Ottoman heritage in the region's construction activities. In the main part of the study, mosques converted from churches, tekkes, tombs, caravanserais, baths, libraries, and fountains that were constructed during the Ottoman period are examined. While this study does not serve as an inventory, it provides information about the Ottoman structures that hold cultural heritage value in Northern Cyprus, particularly in the context of cultural tourism, which is a significant branch of alternative tourism. In the concluding section of the study, recommendations are presented regarding the preservation of Ottoman tangible heritage and its contribution to the country's tourism.

Building the Network of Bulgarian Trade Agencies in the Ottoman Empire at the End of the 19th Century – Challenges, Problems, Solutions

The article examines the challenges in the construction of the network of Bulgarian trade agencies in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century. Although they officially have consular functions, the Bulgarian representations are an important part of Prime Minister Dr. Konstantin Stoilov’s strategy for solving the Bulgarian national question and the accession of Macedonia to the Principality of Bulgaria. Their task is to counteract the development of foreign propaganda in European Turkey and to become a coordination and management center of Bulgarian legal and illegal organizations. Therefore, the Bulgarian trade agents encountered opposition not only from the Ottoman authorities, but also from the consuls of the neighboring Balkan states and Russia – contenders for the distribution of the Ottoman heritage in the Balkans. The author uses the rich archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Denominations in Sofia to show the solutions of the Prime Minister to the main problems and to analyze the result of their implementation.

TÜRKİYE'S FOREIGN AID TO AFRICA UNDER AK PARTY: A CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

Türkiye pursued a Western-cantered foreign policy from the Second World War to the beginning of the 2000s. However, in the early 2000s, the country attempted to restore Ottoman heritage by turning East under the banner of neo-Ottomanism. Türkiye's geopolitical and historical characteristics have played a strategic role in pursuing multifaceted foreign policy. Türkiye's relations with Africa improved throughout the 1990s, peaking during the AK Party's reign. Turkish-African relations have political, economic, and cultural dimensions. Foreign aid, on the other hand, is regarded as one of the most important components of Türkiye's soft power on the continent. Ankara now implements humanitarian and development projects in more than 40 African countries through state agencies and non-governmental organizations such as TIKA and IHH.
 Using constructivism, this study attempts to investigate the driving factors behind Türkiye's foreign aid to Africa during the AK Party era. Consequently, this article concluded that Türkiye's foreign policy toward Africa, especially foreign aid, is primarily shaped by historical, social, religious, and cultural values. Türkiye's status as the Ottoman Empire's heir and a member of the Islamic Cooperation Organization (OIC), along with 28 African countries, allows the country to interact with the continent on historical, social, religious, and cultural levels.

Spatial Constructions of Homeland in Turkish National Identity: Exclusion and Inclusion of Europe

This paper focuses on the geographical, historical, and cultural spatializations of Turkish national identity by political elites in the post-2000 era. Considering the close link between the formation of national identity and the spatial constructions of homeland, the paper shows that Turkish national identity since the foundation of the Republic has been constructed through different supranational visions, navigating through different civilizational ingredients. We show that the Kemalists’ Western-oriented or Eurocentric geopolitical discourses, which perceive Turkey as a “bridge country”, have been transformed in the postCold War era into a more ambitious geopolitical discourse of a “central country”, which aims to broaden Turkey’s “identity space” through its Ottoman heritage. In line with this transformation, in the 2000s, the Turkish homeland was imagined as the “cradle of civilizations”, but the national identity did not develop as a counter-hegemonic measure against the West (Europe). The post-2010 era – with a pronounced emphasis on Islamic culture and Ottoman geopolitical space – constitutes a departure from the previous years’ spatial and identity constructions of Turkey, in the sense that the political elites’ perception of national identity has never gone beyond the national frontiers to this extent, and the West (Europe) has never been so trivialized in terms of progress and civilization.

Heritage Policies and Public Memory between Continuity and Rupture: The Treatment of the Ottoman-era Architecture in Greece in the Aftermath of the Population Exchange

This paper examines the heritagization of Ottoman-era architecture in Greece from the Balkan Wars until the interwar years. Investigating the impact of the Lausanne Treaty, it explores continuities and ruptures in the dominant ideological motifs, policies and social practice of treating Ottoman-era architectural vestiges. Public debates on the meanings and roles of these vestiges are analyzed at the intersection of ideology with material stakes pertaining to spatial management. Moreover, attempts to include Ottoman-era architecture in national and local heritage narratives are seen as a means of claiming the consolidating state’s cultural sovereignty, and as indicators of an ambivalent public affect towards the Ottoman past and official institutions. The paper thus elucidates understudied aspects of making the Ottoman heritage in the light of structural geopolitical rearrangements in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Patriotic Spirit of the Bulgarian Army in the First Balkan War presented in the Reports of Major Gheorghe A. Dabija

"The companion of the 19th and 20th centuries found the Balkan nations in the fullness of the generative process for the legitimation of identity and international recognition. The destiny of becoming a nation has destined those peoples to be truly grumpy and warlike, with territorial claims beyond the limits of the violence allowed by public sensibilities in a prosperous and emancipated Europe. Territorial conquests, followed by expulsions and purifications, of forced cultural assimilation, made the Balkans the “gunpowder barrel” of Europe, detonated by the great European powers in the competition for the Ottoman heritage. Geographically positioned at the periphery of the Balkan world, Romania's national project was focused more on Central and Eastern Europe, where several million Romanians lived under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. However, the threatening Russian expansion into the Straits led Carol I to opt for an alliance with the Central Powers. Therefore, during this period the official nationalist rhetoric was focused on the issue of the Balkan Romanians. Context in which the army, together with the other institutions of the Romanian state, was mobilized in the effort to define and affirm the historical right of the Romanian nation in the Balkans, receiving the mission to identify and inform on realities and political-military, economic-social and cultural activities south of the Danube, facts that we bring to attention from the perspective of military documents. "

A cultural route for Ottoman heritage in Europe: opportunities and challenges from the perspectives of students

ABSTRACT This article examines attitudes toward the development of a cultural route based on Ottoman heritage in Europe among university students from Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, and Hungary. The online survey results outline the basic preconditions and potential obstacles to the development of such a cultural route, with the lack of public support in most countries identified as one of the major problems. The general conclusion is that both the attractiveness of the route’s content and public support can increase if the thematic focus is set on cultural interactions between different nations rather than on ‘pure’ Ottoman heritage and Islamic religion. This can lead to greater public acceptance and increased interest among stakeholders at the local, national, and international levels, and create the conditions for effective functionality and long-term sustainability of the route.

AN APPROACH FOR PRESERVING OTTOMAN CULTURAL HERITAGE UNDER THREAT IN YEMEN: A CASE STUDY " THE OLD CITY OF SANA'A"

Cultural heritage is one of the human development aspects throughout the historical ages. Yemen is one of the wealthiest regions with cultural heritages in the Middle East, due to its important geographical location linking India, China, Africa, and the Mediterranean countries. Sana'a developed through successive Islamic eras, one of the most important of them was during Ottoman period. During their presence in Yemen, Ottomans were interested in constructing different types of buildings and bringing about a great civilizational and architectural renaissance in various regions of Yemen, especially in the city of Sana'a. However, cultural heritage in Sana'a was badly damaged during the Yemeni conflict, including Ottoman heritage. This study proposes an approach for preserving the building's cultural heritage under threat. This approach was based on the European Standard (EN 16096:2012 (E)), Conservation of cultural property - Condition survey and report of building’s cultural heritage. The methodology used will help preserve the cultural heritage in Sana'a by assessing the damage caused by the war in Sana'a, and appropriate proposals were made. This study considered a group of Ottoman structures in the old city of Sana'a as a case study. It shows the war-affected historical sites in all Yemeni cities. During the period of Ottoman rule in Yemen, various facilities were built in most regions of Yemen, most of which were concentrated in the old city of Sana'a. Ottoman establishments were counted in the old city of Sana'a, where there were twenty-eight of them, twenty-one installations still in existence, and seven destroyed and no longer existing.

Gazi Husrev-beg u kontroverznim historiografskim perspektivama

While former Yugoslav historiography had a kind of schedule of scientific research centers (Zagreb for Latin work, Sarajevo for work in Turkish, and Belgrade for work on Visant sources) the end of the 20th century developed new national historiographies that approach the history of the Ottoman period from its point of view. Since this period constitutes a common past of the people of large part of the Balkans, today we can analyze how and what extent regional historiographies explore common historical figures and events. Although historiography can be followed by Gazi Husrev-bey's life and military journey through the Balkan territories, the perception of his character and work remained within the margins of the basic facts of the historical reality of the 16th century. Given the areas where the mention of Gazi Husrev's name and works remained widely present, the research corps on this topic is diverse, but in the foreground based on samples of archival material and representative units of domestic and foreign historiographic literature. The basic thesis I would like to present is that even the most established facts of the past cannot avoid contradictions and debatable interpretations, largely dependent on the point of view or focus shaped by stereotypes, exclusive hypotheses through the paradigm of social awareness as well as the interests of time and politics in some historiographic circles. Through sel examples of research approaches, it can be noted that they are related to the lack of involvement of scientists in incorporating research results into the education system. In addition, the Bologna system has narrowed research topics and they are mainly related to today's borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is absurd for the processing of the Ottoman period of the Bosnian Ayalat, which formed one of the administrative units of the Ottoman State. Changes to the borders with the collapse of the Ottoman state have left a large part of the Bosnian people in other Balkan areas. Their collective memory and attitude towards historical figures are mostly about folk songs, while the research of historical facts on the same topics is left to national historiographies that still retain antagonistic attitude towards the Other. This is best seen through the revitalization of theories about the „dark Turkish times“ and „haters of Christianity“. Due to numerous gaps in knowledge and material traces of the past, younger generations of researchers in the neighborhood, however, are asking logical questions such as: Why renounce the Ottoman heritage because of the collective aversion to the State which once they were part of. This presentation is just a small example of these common historiographical wanderings. According to what has been researched and known about the character and work of Gazi Husrev-bey, this historical personality can be a pattern of local and regional research tendencies. Persistence in such approaches seriously calls into question the responsibility of historians. Bosnia and Herzegovina's experience of a historiographical approach to the topic of famous personalities and events is increasingly indicating self-isolationism.

"A Raindrop in the Ocean for a Kafana in the Balkans": The Balkan "Barbarogenius" in the Narratives of the Turbotronic Scene

This paper is part of ongoing research conducted by the authors which aims to map the turbotronic scene and provide an answer to the question of what music can reveal about the broader dynamic of sociocultural life in contemporary Serbia. The paper follows the paths of the anthropology of music, already well established in Serbian anthropology. It focuses on the seemingly banal, everyday discursive practices of ordinary people, situates them in a wider framework of symbolic geographies, and suggests that turbotronic narratives belong to the discourse of the Balkan "barbarogenius". The paper shows, to use Hertzfeld's terminology, "how and under what pressure people resort to stereotypes, and even represent them directly – act them out, as it were". It answers the question of where the creators of turbotronic find binary oppositions consisting of essentialist constructs, how they instrumentalize them strategically, and how they use them in negotiating power. Our analysis shows that the following value signs assigned to the key pairs of oppositions in the discourse of the "Second Serbia" – (+) Western/European : (–) Balkan, (+) civilized : (–) primitive – have switched places within turbotronic discourse, and that the following pairs of oppositions have been added – (+) emotions : (–) reason, and (+) authentic : (–) fake. We propose that the change be interpreted as a potential reflection in the literature of the wider changes in the reception of the Ottoman heritage in Serbian culture but also in the wider region of the Balkans. An analysis of ethnographic material will show why the authors of turbotronic take the side of "the people" and "ordinary folk", why they insist on the "banished Balkan heritage", and will shed light on the function and symbolic significance that the kafana (a type of Balkan pub) assumes in their narratives. Finally, we suggest directions for future research of this analytically fruitful phenomenon.

« Ce que nous avons hérité des Turcs » : perceptions de l’héritage ottoman en Grèce au début du xxie siècle

L’essentiel des territoires de la Grèce d’aujourd’hui a fait partie de l’Empire ottoman pendant près de cinq siècles. Au fur et à mesure que les Ottomans se retiraient, s’effaçaient avec eux les preuves de leur ancrage pluriséculaire. Toutefois, des traces de cet héritage sont encore visibles – malgré les destructions et l’abandon. Des édifices ottomans continuent de ponctuer le paysage de certaines villes et font même l’objet d’opérations de revalorisation. L’héritage des Ottomans reste aussi perceptible dans la langue et la musique. On le retrouve encore dans les institutions et le droit, notamment en ce qui concerne le statut des musulmans de Thrace et les perceptions des populations considérées comme formant des communautés spécifiques. L’arrivée massive de Grecs d’Anatolie après 1923 et dans les années 1960 a contribué à maintenir la mémoire de cohabitations parfois douloureuses. Depuis la fondation de la Grèce moderne (1830), les attitudes – aussi bien de la société que du pouvoir politique – vis‑à‑vis de l’héritage ottoman ont considérablement évolué. Plusieurs pans de ce passé sont désormais acceptés. Cependant, en dépit de l’existence d’une minorité musulmane protégée par un traité international (Lausanne, 1923), des éléments liés à l’islam continuent de faire l’objet de crispations et d’un certain rejet. L’état des relations gréco-turques influe aussi sur les perceptions collectives.

Turkish political doctrine of «Neo-Ottomanism»: between symbolic and real content

The paper is devoted to the modern foreign policy doctrine of the Turkish Republic, usually labeled as Neo-Ottomanism. Turkeys leading politicians have declared their commitment to the Ottoman heritage. The latter is also actively promoted through television series and historical cinematography. The authors also note the internal political aspect of Neo-Ottomanism, aimed at softening interethnic relations and consolidating the country around the common historical heritage. However, based on the analysis of the real political practice of the Turkish leadership, the authors come to the conclusion about its predominantly symbolic (declarative-populist) purpose without denying the presence of Neo-Ottomanism in the Turkish political discourse. In their opinion, there is no reason to oppose the current political course of the Turkish leadership to the Kemalist heritage, the adherence to which, although not manifested as actively and vividly as the connection with the Ottoman tradition, is also inscribed in the populist discourse of the emergence of a new and great Turkey. R.T. Erdogan and his closest associates have a wide range of similar symbolic instruments, but in its real political practice, the Turkish leadership proceeds from the pragmatic interests of its country, which allows it to maintain and develop relations with various powers located at different geopolitical poles.

Comparative and Integrative History in Ottoman and Turkish Women’s and Gender Studies

Comparative and Integrative History in Ottoman and Turkish Women’s and Gender Studies