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Frozen conflicts have become a persistent phenomenon in the international arena. At the same time, very little research has focused on the factors that have prevented conflict resolution in such cases. This paper focuses on the case of Nagorno-Karabakh and analyses the role of timing for peace initiatives in frozen conflicts. The paper investigates how political, economic and foreign policy institutions that have emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh have consolidated its features of a de facto state and how that in turn has affected the peace process. The findings from the Nagorno-Karabakh case demonstrate that as a de facto state consolidates, the pool of acceptable peace alternatives becomes increasingly limited, eventually leaving the only option for conflict resolution—the recognition of de facto independence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the inauguration of the Autonomous State of Crete in an attempt to address both the specific contextual characteristics of its foundation and a few broader theoretical questions regarding the issues of interdependency and shared sovereignty in the context of modern state building. Specifically, the paper addresses the federal aspects of the Cretan polity by reference to region and religion. At a parallel level, it integrates this discussion with three political actors directly involved in the making of Autonomous Crete: the Great Powers, Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Moving away from acute dichotomies, this discussion suggests that autonomy reveals the blurry boundaries between nation-state and empire, as well as the origins of minority politics by reference to late 19th-century colonialist interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates to what extent mediation has been a relevant foreign policy tool during the Arab Spring by looking into the mediation attempts of Turkey, Qatar and Iran. To answer this question, the paper examines why and how these actors mediated, to what extent they were able to apply mediation as a tool of foreign policy, whether their mediation attempts could deliver any results and whether there was a receptive audience with respect to their mediation. Despite certain setbacks, mediation has been a relevant foreign policy tool during the Arab Spring. The uses of mediation by these actors run parallel to their foreign policy priorities. In addition, during the Arab Spring, mediation has proved more effective in small-scale conflicts, such as hostage crises, rather than large-scale ones, such as those between regimes and oppositions. Despite considerable potential for regional powers to take on mediator roles, the effectiveness of their mediation attempts depends on their commitment and reliability as mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the state of post-war memory in the Croatian city of Vukovar. It addresses the recent resurgence of Croatian nationalism, manifested through the implementation and subsequent vandalism of civic bilingual (Latin/Cyrillic) plaques. It does so by examining the culture of commemoration that has come to define Vukovar since Croatian independence in 1995 and that has remained powerfully persuasive to this day. Considered a national symbol and an emblem of sacrifice, the city of Vukovar has become encoded by the rhetoric of its wartime past, allowing little opportunity for future development and growth. This paper argues that while such observance and remembrance are elements crucial to the formation of national identity, collective memory itself must remain in flux, constantly changing to remain useful for the generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the surge of neo-nationalism and conspiratorial thinking in tandem with the rise of the Turkish revisionist historiography highly critical of Turkish nationalism and its legacy in the 20th century in the 2000s. The paper also examines the demonization of these historiographical deviations by proponents of Kemalist nation-statism. Because these revisionists challenged nation-statist assumptions, such as the innocence of the Turkish nation and its self-victimization, their academic output was perceived as blasphemy against the common values of Turkish society, further fomenting neo-nationalist sentiment. Thus, the paper argues that the genesis of a revisionist historiography and the rising popularity of conspiracy theories among the public cannot be disassociated from each other.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the decades-long Turkish–American strategic relationship through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has evolved in the post-cold war era. The main research interest of this paper is to assess the evolving nature of the bilateral Turkey–USA relationship through the degree of convergence and divergence in the positions that both countries have adopted on some issues occupying the agenda of the Alliance over the last two decades. The main argument is that both internally driven factors and the changes that have taken place at regional and systemic levels have shaped this relationship. The end of the cold war, the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the globalization of American security outlook in the post-9/11 era, Turkey's growing hard and soft power capabilities in its environment, the descent of the Middle East into further instability during the so-called Arab Spring, the rise of the ‘rest’ against the ‘West’ in the global power arena and the role conceptualization of ruling elites in both countries have all contributed to the development of the Turkish–American strategic relationship. Another argument is that interests have become more influential than identity-related considerations in shaping the attitudes of these countries towards each other, particularly within the context of NATO's transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the claim that stones from Cypriot archaeological sites, and other historical public and private structures, were used to build the Suez Canal. The claim appears in vernacular lore and in scholarly anecdote, neither of which seem to have a basis in fact. By paring down this narrative and looking for its sources, the paper examines practices of stone reuse, while diffusing some of the speciousness that results from anti-colonial commitments that underlie such claims. The narrative is explored from an archival, historical perspective but also draws from contemporary site visits and personal interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neo-liberal urban policies imposed under authoritarian policymaking triggered an important urban movement during May–June 2013 in Istanbul. A group called Taksim Solidarity (TS) arose behind this astonishing urban movement that the city and country had never witnessed before. It was a call for more transparent consulting, regulation and supervision stages in urban planning. Consisting of people from a wide spectrum of fields, it provided a much-needed political platform where people could put their ideas forward and create political synergy, in itself an extremely important factor in contesting the project. Based on a qualitative study, the present paper tries to understand the most important factors behind the Gezi resistance, and analyse the dynamics which saw more than 120 different organizations gather under the TS banner. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the interpretative framework that Serbian and Croatian historiographies on one side, and German historiographies on the other side, used when studying the past of the German minority in Yugoslavia. Pointing out a strong influence of ideologies on historical writing, the authors distinguish two periods with regard to this issue: ‘Cold War historiography’, from the end of the Second World War until the beginning of the 1990s; and ‘post-Cold War’, that is, contemporary historiography. Ideological antagonisms and personal experiences of contemporaries, which marked the Cold War historiography, have been gradually overcome during the past two decades, due to the revision of previous assessments in all three historiographies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The nascent Serbian state and processes of de-Ottomanization should not be seen as the sole determinants of the development of urban space in Belgrade in the 19th century. Using Lefebvre’s conceptual categories, this paper argues that both Ottoman and Serbian authorities waged a struggle over the city through the creation of dominated and symbolic spaces, and the capital with its abstract spaces left its mark on the city. Moreover, the Christian, Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of the city contributed to the production of space by their everyday activities. Serbian autonomy was the particular framework in which the everyday life in the city, an emerging nation-state, the reforming Ottoman polity, merchant capital, imperialism and military exigency came together to produce Belgrade’s space. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the challenges of the reconciliation process influenced by the primordialist attitude to interethnic relations in Kosovo society between the majority community of Albanians and the largest minority group, the Serbs. The framing of the approach to ethnic identity at the most general level affects possible outcomes as well as future prospects for how much improvement may be expected in interethnic relations. The aim of the research is to critically interpret obstacles demonstrated in the stereotyped collective memories that have penetrated public and private everyday life and which are transferred, via the education system, to future generations. This further complicates the opportunity to find common ground with members of the other ethnic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey has expanded the horizons of its foreign policy in geographical terms, as well as in terms of Ankara's involvement in global issues and in international organizations. Turkey's new foreign policy and line of geopolitical thought marks a considerable degree of discontinuity with the previous era. Turkey's ambition is to take on a central role in world politics under the guidance of the foreign policy vision of former Foreign Minister and current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. This paper analyses the extent to which Turkey's Foreign Ministry has been able to transform itself in accordance with the new geopolitical thinking under Davutoğlu. It focuses on the capacity building and reform of the Foreign Ministry to understand how policymakers bridge the gap between ideas and institutions to ensure that the geopolitical perspective is an enduring and long-term project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing upon a range of ethnographic sources, this paper proposes an alternative micro-level explanation of the Jihadization process of the Chechen insurgency in that it explores individual motivations for recruitment into Jihadist units in interwar Chechnya (1996–99). First, it shows that enrolment into Jihadist units was sought by Chechen males who attempted to challenge the established forms of social organization. Second, it illustrates that membership in Jihadist units served as a means of providing security, particularly so for the members of weakened clans who found themselves increasingly discriminated against by their ethnic kin, and incapable of ensuring protection for themselves within the established clan-based networks. In both cases, the Jihadist ideology per se seems to have been of little or no real concern as regards prospective recruits to the Jihadist units. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers AKEL's (Progressive Party of the Working People) stance on Cyprus's national issue in the era of British colonialism (1922–59). For analytical purposes, the time span is divided into two periods. The first period covers the years 1922–41, the years during which the CPC (Communist Party of Cyprus) was functioning. The second period extends from AKEL's foundation in 1941 to the declaration of Cyprus's independence in 1959. The analytical framework focuses on five parameters that will illuminate the Cypriot communist left's strategies, tactics and responses to the various developments and phases of the national issue of Cyprus in the period under study: the age of the party; the colonial status of Cyprus; external influences; intra-party conflicts; political opposition. It is argued that the national issue precluded presentation of a socialist agenda to the people of Cyprus, but it also helped AKEL reach out for alliances with other political forces and personalities, and gain and retain a prominent role in Cypriot politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of the Arab Spring and of Syrian unrest in particular have generated scholarly debate on Ahmet Davutoğlu's broadly appreciated ‘zero problems with neighbours’ principle in Turkish foreign policy. This paper presents an assessment of the viability of the Davutoğlu vision and the changing parameters of foreign policy in a new era. It concludes with a discussion of a crucial question: ‘Is this the end of Davutoğlu's foreign policy vision?’ [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Female labour force participation rates (FLFPRs) are known to be exceptionally low in Turkey by international standards. The general consensus is that the catalyst behind FLFPRs is the level of educational attainment. In the academic literature, the relationship between the two factors—education and female labour force participation—is explained under what is known as the U-shape hypothesis. Although female education has increased over the past years, the U-shape is not observable in Turkey. This research scrutinizes the economic and social characteristics of the labour markets in Turkey and finally seeks to demonstrate how women in Turkey are trapped in a vicious cycle. The U-shape theory is insufficient to explain FLFPRs in Turkey. Turkish women, although well educated, face cultural barriers in entering the labour markets. They present a form of passive human capital, whose skills are underutilized. Thus, the curve remains an L-shape rather than a U. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article analyses the condition of women in the MENA area in the light of the challenges faced by those countries within the context of globalization. It argues that, if the position of the MENA countries in the global political economy is increasingly marginalized, this is even truer for women, who are left behind in the process of up-skilling necessary to catch up with the increasing technological demands imposed by globalization. Moreover, the crisis of the Arab state within globalization seems to produce an increasing radicalization of society, with all that this means in terms of further marginalization of women. In this article a transnationalist conceptualization of globalization is adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the collapse of Communism, and especially following the devastating war of the early 1990s, efforts to reach political consensus in Bosnia and Herzegovina have proved extremely difficult. State–church relations have in principle evaded such a destiny. Key to this has been the general, even if not always fully functional, acceptance of freedom of religion and equality as the main framework for resolving dilemmas involving the role of religion and religious practice. The state, religious entities and society at large have undergone a process of accommodating themselves to a liberal model of state–church relations, which was introduced as part of the post–war constitutional settlement. This article analyses the different stages and vicissitudes of such an accommodation by focusing on the evolution of the legal framework for religious freedom and equality as well as its actual implementation in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study seeks to prove that the conventional view of British newspaper reporting on Yugoslavia as being mostly positive is inaccurate and the tone of reporting is more difficult to define. It uses newspaper articles determined by random sampling and examines them both quantitatively and qualitatively to provide depth. These methods showed that newspaper coverage of Tito’s Yugoslavia was mostly neutral as Yugoslavia was rarely the main focus in the news; however, when it was, then coverage was more likely to be positive. Nevertheless, this coverage varied through the years, across newspapers examined and, something not considered until now, by the aspect of Yugoslav politics being reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Middle East has been increasingly factoring into the relations between Turkey and the USA since the end of the cold war. Ironically, the issues related to this region simultaneously intensify and erode the bilateral relations. For the USA, the significance of Turkey has always related to some extent to the Middle East. For Turkey, on the other hand, during the cold war years this connection was not always welcomed. In the aftermath of the cold war, the Middle East became one of the most significant elements of the alliance, a development that was accepted by both sides. The changes in the international arena, such as the end of bipolarity and post-9/11 developments as well as regional changes, particularly the Iraqi crises, Iranian nuclear issue, the Arab uprisings and changes in the regional balance of power, had an impact on the evolution of American–Turkish relations and created both convergence and divergence of interests. Finally, domestic politics, especially the ideology and policies of state actors, had a bearing on bilateral relations in the context of the Middle East. As Turkey became more active and developed particular interests in the Middle East, the crises in Turkey–USA relations began to occur more frequently and led to bargaining processes between the two allies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the cold war period and contemporary issues which involve the triangle with a focus on Iraq, Syria and Egypt. It traces turning points in the 20th century, present dilemmas and conclusions in a state of flux. Major conclusions are: that a cold war is re-emerging because of Russia's assertion of its world power status and Washington's claims to world leadership. The other is the conspicuous similarity in Turkey between the Democratic Party (1950–60) and the incumbent government who assume(d) that history, civilizational geopolitics and economy would facilitate transition of its proximate neighbourhood into American new world order(s). Evidence suggests why these efforts failed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses identity formation among Kurdish activists in eastern Turkey and its effects on conceptions of Turkey as a nation-state in the 1960s. Particular focus is given to the political events of the Eastern Meetings of 1967. According to the author, these events played a significant role in shaping understandings of Eastern Turkey as a Kurdish space. Details on the social production of space in Eastern Turkey are presented. Other topics include socialism, nationalism, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), and the concept of abstract space.

The article discusses the role of the Jewish community in the economic and cultural history of Salonica (Thessaloniki), Greece, from the time of Ottoman rule into the 20th century. The city's history as an important center of commerce and multiculturalism is discussed, including the migration of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews to the city starting in the late 15th century. The impact of Jewish entrepreneurship in the areas of trade, publishing, education, industry, and politics starting in the 19th century are then discussed.