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Historical accounts of sickle cell disease tend to emphasize either its theoretical role in catalyzing the field of medical genetics or its clinical and social significance in representing the health-care disparities experienced by African Americans. This essay bridges these narratives by focusing on the discovery of sickle cells in marginalized Arabic-speaking communities of Yemen and Turkey in the 1950s. As in North America, sickle cell research in the Middle East unfolded along the social fractures of race. The essay analyzes how British, Turkish, and Arab geneticists attempted to create evolutionary hypotheses that reconciled historical and sociological boundaries between white and African, Arab and Turk. As the parameters of Turkish and Arab nationalism shifted in the Cold War–era Middle East, so did the favored explanatory narratives for the presence of sickle cells in different communities, which assigned different degrees of importance to African ancestry, socially enforced endogamy, and evolutionary adaptations to malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Turkish Studies is the property of Electronic Turkish Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article discusses why Turkey persisted in diplomacy in the pursuit of a proactive foreign policy during the 1930s while use of force and unilateral action were the popular alternatives. Accordingly, first, the prevailing literature will be examined outlining five primary foreign policy practices of the time, namely, revisionism, irredentism, bandwagoning, appeasement and isolationism. The article will then discuss the foreign policy preference of Turkey which stands as an anomaly in comparison to its contemporaries, focusing on two main cases: Turkey’s reacquisition of the Straits and the accession of Alexandretta. After analysing the underlying factors behind Turkey’s persistent attachment to multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, the article will conclude by applying the term ‘Holder of Balance’ to Turkish foreign policy in the 1930s. Overall, it is argued that the Great Depression attributed a new role to Turkey, the holder of European balance, enabling partnership with both aggressors and appeasers and thus facilitating the settlement of disputes through diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the Yugoslav–Turkish agreement on the resettlement of Muslims from the Serb-dominated lands of southern Yugoslavia to Turkey from 1938. The agreement was part of a broader series of state-directed population resettlement projects in the interwar period that had the demographic homogenization of nation-states in Southeastern Europe and Turkey as their ultimate goal. This study examines the close cooperation of Yugoslav and Turkish state authorities, and depicts commonalities of both states’ agents on the way to their bilateral agreement. The two-sidedness of this study will show the complexity of the applied homogenizing programme, consisting in equal measure of policies of exclusion and resettlement, and inclusive and assimilative nationalizing practices. Demographic engineering will be used as a conceptual framework for grasping both sides of the nationalizing projects. Besides resettlement, other methods of demographic engineering will also be taken into consideration by examining two key documents from each country that paved the way to the bilateral convention on the resettlement of Muslims from Southern Serbia to Turkey in 1938. The results of this juxtaposition will show how securitization was intermingled with concepts of national selfhood and otherness by classifying the population into agents and enemies of the state. The inclusion of ethnic criteria in this classification has had important implications down to the present day. Through its overarching regional lens, this study seeks to contribute to a growing number of studies on (forced) migration from Yugoslavia to Turkey by avoiding the shortcomings of a unilateral approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article addresses the works of Turkish Red Crescent, Turkish Aeronautical Association and Child Protection Institution which are among the charitable societies active in Rize province. This study, with a view to form an opinion on the socio-cultural life of Rize, was prepared by utilizing copies of Rize Province newspaper, the first official newspaper of Rize, for the period of 1936-1942. This study intends to answer questions about the activities of these societies, the support and participation of people to these societies and the integration of these societies with the people, by using the news of the newspaper, which is considered as an important resource for Rize of the Republican period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the activities of the Ford Foundation in Turkey between 1957 and 1968. Based on archival sources it examines the Foundation projects in education and deals with key personalities involved in this cooperation. The Ford Foundation supported the improvement of the quality of primary education, the foundation of a Science High School for gifted children and development of population studies. The Foundation enjoyed the fruits of Turkish-American rapprochement, but also managed to avoid detrimental consequences of political turbulences taking place in Turkey and found workable partners among the educated elites of the country. Both parties shared an ultimate goal towards the westernization of Turkey and sought to foster scientific culture. It helped establish informal networks managing to work with different political groups during the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will attempt to develop an in-depth examination of the pivotal role of Islam in the articulation of Turkish nationalism and Turkish official identity by examining the sermons authorized and imposed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA), the state agency regulating religion, and how the their cosmologies of social, moral and political order are entwined. We will further argue that this role involves a twofold process; firstly, the Muslim identity was imagined as a prerequisite for being considered as a Turk and a Turkish citizen and, secondly, the ‘cultural intimacy’ of Turkish nationalism is grounded on the ‘root paradigms’ inherited and attained from the Islamic tradition and theology. These arguments are particularly pertinent at a time when Islamist JDP (Justice and Development Party) consolidated its power and began to instrumentalize PRA for its priorities and visions of Islam. This, however, does not bring a radical reshuffling of PRA. On the contrary, the continuity from the Kemalist-monitored PRA to the JDP-monitored PRA can be attested not only in its organizational features but also in its ideological make up; especially in terms of its perceptions of society, state and social order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Pursuit of History is the property of Selcuk University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a report from an April 8-12, 2014 conference in Istanbul, Turkey organized by the Orient-Institut Istanbul school of the Max Weber Stiftung foundation and the Tarih Vakfi Association of Liberal Historians of Turkey on the history of Ottoman involvement in World War I. Topics of presentations included the deportations of Greek residents of Western Anatolia, violence against Arabs and Armenians in World War I, and social conditions of Iranians living in the Ottoman Empire.

Anti-communism was the chief pillar of propaganda particularly in the Western Bloc during The Cold War Era. In Turkey, "ideological productivity" of Turkish Armed Forces, based on Turkish nationalism, was articulated with anti-communism in the process of participating in NATO. There are two major aspects of Turkish military's anti-communism mission intertwined at very basic level. The fi rst one is to be the supporter and sometimes directly the implementer of the general anti-communist project in all around the country; second one is to make anti-communist propaganda within the institution by determining and discharging leftist offi cers and junta initiatives. This study will deal with two basic questions: "how the Turkish Armed Forces, notably the command echelon, positioned itself against communism?" and "what arguments and tools of the anti-communist propaganda were used by the army during the Cold War period especially between 1950 and 1980?" We claim that the formulations of the military propaganda refl ect both the mentality of general staff and the established pattern of Turkish Armed Forces' interventions into Turkish political life. Another argument of this paper is that the view of Turkish Army towards communist was very similar to that of the Turkish right wing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prolongation of the Italian-Turkish War encouraged the Balkan peoples to attack Turkey in September 1912. The declared aim was to release the conationals in the Ottoman Empire and to unify the liberated territories. In this situation, Turkey saw herself obliged to conclude peace with Italy, in Lausanne, on October 15, 1912, surrendering and giving up Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. As such, the Balkan States made a great service to Italy, as Italy in its turn had helped drawing Turkey into a war that has weakened it from all points of view. The Balkan Alliance generated various reactions among the European powers, since it was born under the patronage of Russia, an empire that hoped to be able to count, in the event of an increasingly predictable European war, on a major political and military force in the South-East Europe, but it overestimated the influence exercised over these States because the Balkan allies attacked the Ottoman Empire at a time when Russia had not accomplished all military preparations. The entry of the Romanian armies and their march towards Bulgaria and Sofia had an important role in the cessation of hostilities and the start of peace talks. They were held in Bucharest, which highlighted Romania's role in settling the conflict. The peace of Bucharest generated different reactions among the European powers, according to the interests and rivalries in the area. The most affected was Austro-Hungary which claimed the allegiance of the ratification of the treaty to a European Conference, but France, Russia and the United Kingdom opposed to any revisions, whereas Italy and Germany, not excluding this possibility, considered that the decisions adopted in Bucharest had to be respected. However, the Balkan wars did not solve all territorial issues, many of the decisions taken were subsequently challenged and hence in applicable. There were still disputed territories, as well as countries discontented because of the lack of a seashore access, of the collapse of a hegemony vision, or of the loss of some key positions. Soon, all these rivalries and disputes became evident in connection with the outbreak of World War I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses social aspects, especially social mobilization, of late Ottoman imperial policy of in the author's term eliminating Greek Orthodox populations. The author identifies this policy as part of a broader Turkish nationalist policy termed National Economy or Milli İktisat. Among other topics addressed are Turkish historiography of such eliminations, the boycott movement against Greece over the status of the island of Crete, and its escalation into violence against Greeks.

Copyright of Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları is the property of Turk Dunyasi Arastirmalari Vakfi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study discusses the position of Alevi identity and Alevi community with regard to the Turkish national identity-building project. There was a partial compatibility between the Kemalist objective of laicization and nation building and the Alevi practice and understanding of a ‘local’ version of ‘Turkish Islam’. Besides these compatibilities, Alevis faced the challenges of nation-building and homogenization policies, which involved homogenization in ethnic, religious and sectarian domains. Kurmanji- and Zazaki-speaking ethnically Kurdish/Zaza Alevis of Eastern Anatolia had a different experience during the project of centralization and ethnic homogenization, in comparison to Turkish-speaking Turcoman Alevis. This different experience still is a source of division among Alevi communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the influence of the historian Ibn Khaldun on the political debates on the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century between Arab nationalists', who believed in the importance of tribal affiliation, and the Ottoman Empire supporters, who held the Khaldunian theory based on asabiyaa, or group feeling. An overview of the role that the Qurʾan and hadiths played in the intellectual debate on the Ottoman Empire, including in regard to the authority of the Ottoman sultan, is provided. The relationship between European colonialism and the debate over the Ottoman Empire is discussed. The popular belief among Arab nationalists that the caliph should be a member of the Quraysh tribe is also discussed.

In 1908 there has been the Revolution against oppressive regime of Sultan Abdulhamit II. However the revolutionists did not take the power in their hands until 1913. The transition period is characterized with interactions between foreign and domestic policy factors where many shifts and conflicts shaped political events. The period concluded with establishment of a dictatorship in Istanbul, highly influenced by robust syndrome of lost territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than investigating memoirs as sources for writing history, this article attempts to discuss the political and ideological meanings attributed to memoirs and how the memoir-publishing industry was utilized for such dispositions and proclivities in twentieth century Turkey. The article also examines how different social, ideological, and cultural milieus and circles were interested and fascinated with autobiographical writings and memoirs. The article concludes with examining how memoirs subsequently became a contested area and perceived as assets and instruments to be employed against political and ideological opponents with the booming interest in memoirs publishing that began in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The picture of contemporary Turkey is the result of a complex process of change, which cannot be painted without getting deeper into the history of this country. There are important stages for the evolution of the Turkish politics in the history of the Ottoman Empire like laying the foundations of the present Republic (the first attempt is the Tanzimat Reforms to decrease the gap between the Empire and the Western countries), and the Young Turk Movement activities, Thanks to Mustafa Kemal Atatiirk, who played a major role in the road to freedom and modernization of the country, today we can speak about the Republic of Turkey. Separating the state from religion, Atatiirk created a new secular country, cut off in this way from the current output of the Ottoman Empire. The ideas of Kemalism, implemented in the life of the Turkish society through reforms which contributed to the creation of a new nation and the significant development of the country in many areas. With the reformist activities of Mustafa Kemal, Turkey has become a modern country gaining a lot on the international area. Therefore, this situation has made Turkey try to join the European Union. Hence in Turkey there is an understandable respect and glorification for Mustafa Kemal Atatiirk, widely recognized as the great leader and national hero. As quoted in the article, parts of interviews have indicated that Atatiirk is still well-known, highly appreciated and alive in the minds of the Turks. Turkish people are proud of him and they are well aware of the importance of his reforms for the fate of the country, often looking at his figure uncritically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is a democratization and globalization process in conformity with the state's founding principles possible for Turkey? This question undoubtedly has become one of crucial questions in the last decade due to Turkey's problems in overcoming difficulties related to globalization, accession to the European Union, the Kurdish question, civil-military relations and the secularism-Islamism clash. These problems became apparent and much stronger after the collapse of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and the takeover of the Islamist-originated Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002. Ismail Cem, a distinguished Turkish social democratic theoretician, journalist and politician who was one of the most important members of the collapsed coalition government as the Foreign Minister of Turkey, with his unique approach to Turkish modernity and political system as well as his moderate propositions for Turkey's democratic problems deserves to be remembered as Turkey is further challenged by these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapbook reform was part and parcel of larger projects of folk culture reform in Europe between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Political powers excised content perceived as dangerous and substituted material reflecting their own principles and aims. This article examines the reflections of this process in Turkey. The modernization of chapbooks was carried out by the Turkish political authorities as a state project only in 1937. That project included the transformation of traditional heroes and events in these chapbooks to place them in line with the Republican revolution and the state ideology of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses nationalism in children's poetry in the late Ottoman Empire (Turkey) during the second Constitutional period (1908-1918). The role of children's literary journals is discussed, as is the policy of the ruling Committee of Union and Progress ("Ittihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti") of educating children in patriotism and service to the nation. A number of poems addressing topics related to Turkish freedom, independence, and militant nationalism are reprinted from journals such as "Çocuk Dünyasi" ("Children's World"), "Çocuk Bahçesi" ("Children's Garden"), and others.