Journal of Balkan Studies
type: channel
description: • Journal of Balkan Studies is an international, peer-reviewed refereed and academic journal. It is published twice a year. Articles in English, Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish are published in the journal. • Journal of Balkan Studies; centers the Balkans and the disciplines of history, political science, international relations. • Journal of Balkan Studies’ articles are primarily requested to comply with the academic rules of the theoretical and methodological framework. The content is expected to be methodologically consistent, appropriate and systematic, based on a theory, it is likely to question the theories or to produce a new theory. • Journal of Balkan Studies includes perspectives that analyze the present and prioritize the future, taking into account the past about North Macedonia, the Balkans and the world, with its consistent, reliable arguments. • Journal of Balkan Studies prioritizes methodological, intellectual, historical, theoretical, literature studies and discussions for the region, and gives importance to the production of local knowledge. • Journal of Balkan Studies prioritizes knowledge production for the region. It also encourages texts that develop new approaches / imagery to global, intellectual, methodological, historical questions and problems of people and societies. • The number of Balkan Studies Journal can be thematic or published on the basis of articles covering many different topics. • The Journal of Balkan Studies values the fact that the produced information is applicable to people, societies, the world and a future perspective. • Articles of the Balkan Studies Journal can be accessed for free via its website. The articles can be downloaded in PDF format without any payment or membership. No fee is requested from the authors for any reason and no fee is paid to them.
publisher: Balkan Studies Foundation
language: en
publication name: Journal of Balkan Studies
issn: 2671-3675
items: From Bajo to Sokullu Mehmed Pasha: An Analysis of a Devshirme's Networks
items: Outlying the Lie: Narrative Exaggeration, Comic Performance, and Folk Intelligence in the Serbian Tale Laž za opkladu
items: The Impact of Macedonian Reforms on the Austro-Hungarian Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (1903-1908)
items: “Basic” Greek Education in the Sanjak of Gjirokastër, 1869-1913.
items: Avusturya’nın Kosova Seferi (1689–1691) ve Yerel Reayanın Tepkisi
items: Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky “Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and The Late Ottoman State” Stanford University Press, 2024, p.340
items: İrade ve Kader Arasında:Dr. Ethem Bakar’ın (1877-1945) Biyografisi ve Düşünce Dünyası
items: Xavier Bougarel, Nadživjeti Carstva: Islam, nacionalni identitet i politička lojalnost u Bosni i Hercegovini, drugo izdanje, Udruženje za modernu historiju, Sarajevo, 2023, 408 pp.
items: Sarajevski pjesnik Zekerija Sukerija: književno-teorijska studija i izbor iz Divana
items: By All means Necessary: The Rescuing of the Albanian Jews During the Holocaust
items: Performing Europe: Speech Acts and the Discursive Construction of European Integration in Albanian Political Discourse
items: The Balkan Football Cup as an Instrument of Political Rapprochement in the Balkans (1929–1936)
items: AHMET ERDEM TOZOĞLU, “DEMİRYOLU VE KENT 19. YÜZYILDA OSMANLI BALKAN ŞEHİRLERİNİN MEKÂNSAL DEĞİŞİMİ”,Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2024, XII+352 PAGES, ISBN: 9786254299599.
items: Between Empires, Among Believers: A Microhistorical and Borderland Analysis of Benedikt Kuripešić’s 1530 Travel Diary
items: MALEČKOVÁ, JITKA. “THE TURK” IN THE CZECH IMAGINATION, BRILL RODOPI, LEIDEN-BOSTON, 2021. ISBN: 978-90-04-44079-1, S. 240.
items: Hikmet Karčić, Genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini - institucije, počinioci i posljedice, Institut za islamsku tradiciju Bošnjaka - Sarajevo, 2024, 156.
items: From Consular Office to Trade Corridor: The Diplomatic Networks and Commercial Roles of Levantine Merchants in Ottoman Salonica and Smyrna (1780-1860)
items: Selective Justice? Empirically Testing for Double Standards in the ICC's Palestine and Ukraine Investigations
items: By Any Other Name: Expressive Implications of Reconceptualizing an International Crime as Another through the Examples of Ecocide and Aggression
items: Assessing The Effectiveness and Adequacy of Provisional Measures in Genocide Cases: A Comparative Study
items: From Berlin to Istanbul: The First Balkan Passengers of the Ottoman-German Alliance
items: The Controlled Disorder as a USA Transitional Strategy toward Multipolarity
items: The UN Security Council Through The Numbers: How Does The Council Maintain International Peace in Practice?
items: The “Heretics” Hermeneutics: Bosnia and Balkan Bogomils in the Mirror of Modern Hungarian Literature As Potential(Borrowed?) Theaters of Multidimensional Orientalism
items: The Political Movement for the Republic of Kosovo – July 2, 1990
items: Sedad Bešlija, Hercegovački sandžak u 17. stoljeću (17. Yüzyılda Hersek Sancağı)
items: İki Savaş Bir Coğrafya: Yaşar Nabi Nayır’ın Balkanlar ve Türklük İle Değişen Dünyamız Adlı Eserlerınde Değişen Balkanlar İmgesi
items: The ‘Conquering’ Soldier-Merchants of the Balkans: Colonization, State Interventionism and Separatist Claims in the Danubian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (18th-19th Centuries)
items: An Assessment on Balkan Historiography
items: Görkem Akgöz, “In the Shadow of War and Empire: Indrustrialisation, Nation Building, and Working-Class Politics in Turkey”

From Bajo to Sokullu Mehmed Pasha: An Analysis of a Devshirme's Networks
type: item
description: Sokullu Mehmed Pasha’s life, which began in a village near Višegrad, culminated in the highest position attainable by someone outside the Ottoman dynasty. Rooted in the gulâm tradition, the devshirme system transformed Bajo into Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, integrating him into the core structures of the state and providing the foundation for his rise as a statesman. While he was not the only prominent figure produced by this system, he possessed distinctive qualities that set him apart from other devshirmes. Among these, his uninterrupted fourteen-year tenure as grand vizier under three sultans -Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III- stands out as particularly remarkable. This achievement cannot be attributed to a single factor; in addition to his personal abilities, the networks of relationships he cultivated and the experience he gained significantly contributed to his own advancement as well as that of his family. In this article analyze his interactions with various institutions and social groups in samples. The findings indicate that these networks were neither superficial nor incidental; they played a decisive role in his ascent to the office of grand vizier, his stable maintenance of authority, and his effectiveness in action. Nevertheless, his success extended beyond these relationships, as his historical record demonstrates his capability as a crisis manager and a farsighted, stable statesman. Sokullu Mehmed Pasha’s enduring legacy rests not only on his political position and personal talents but also on his charitable foundations and his engagement with scholarly and literary circles.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ottoman Empire
  topic: keywords
subject: Devshirme System
  topic: keywords
subject: Grand Vizier
  topic: keywords
subject: Sokullu Mehmed Pasha
  topic: keywords
creator: Beytullah Mısır
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Beytullah Mısır (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-08-28
publication date: 2026-08-28
starting page: 9
ending page: 51
doi: 10.51331/A071

Outlying the Lie: Narrative Exaggeration, Comic Performance, and Folk Intelligence in the Serbian Tale Laž za opkladu
type: item
description: This article explores the Serbian folktale Laž za opkladu (‘A Lie for a Wager’) as a representative of ATU 1920, the internationally attested tale type known as the ‘Contest in Lying.’ Via close analysis of narrative structure, cultural context, and oral performance, the study argues that the tale employs absurd exaggeration as a strategic form of wit and social commentary. Drawing on folkloristic theory and comparative materials from Europe, the Middle East, and North America, it examines how tall tales reflect communal values, subvert authority, and negotiate the boundaries between fiction and belief. Particular attention is given to the role of comic escalation, verbal performance, and storytelling as a culturally sanctioned arena for reversing hierarchies. The tale’s preservation in Vuk Karadžić’s collections affirms its historical and ethnographic value, as its structure continues to resonate in contemporary narrative forms, suggesting rich potential for further research in traditional and digital folklore.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: folktale
  topic: keywords
subject: exaggeration
  topic: keywords
subject: Serbian oral tradition
  topic: keywords
subject: lying contests
  topic: keywords
subject: folk story
  topic: keywords
creator: Srđan Jovanović
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Srđan Jovanović (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-08-28
publication date: 2026-08-28
starting page: 53
ending page: 78
doi: 10.51331/A072

The Impact of Macedonian Reforms on the Austro-Hungarian Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (1903-1908)
type: item
description: The internationalization of the Macedonian issue and the outbreak of the Bosnian Crisis were closely linked to the foreign policy of Austria-Hungary. During the period of the Macedonian Reforms, the initially fragile alliance between Austria-Hungary and Italy was severely tested by disagreements over the occupation of Macedonian zones and their competition for regional hegemony. The original cooperative relationship between Austria-Hungary and Russia, which was committed to maintaining regional peace, became unsustainable as the reform process deepened and exposed structural disputes between the two countries over their interests in the Balkans. Germany, finding itself increasingly isolated internationally and fearing abandonment by its key ally, reluctantly abandoned its efforts to restore the traditional German-Russian friendship and to cultivate favorable German-Turkish relations. Instead, Germany was compelled to firmly support Austria-Hungary’s Balkan policy, which led to a pronounced shift in German-Austrian primacy within the alliance. The realignment of relations among the Great Powers during the Macedonian reforms allowed Austria-Hungary to carry out its plan to annex the provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, the Bosnian Crisis, triggered by the annexation, further reshaped the relations between the Great Powers and the Balkan states, ultimately paving the way for the outbreak of the First World War.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Austria-Hungary; Macedonian Reforms; Bosnian Crisis; Diplomatic Games; Bosnia-Herzegovina
  topic: keywords
creator: Jianzhi Gao
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Jianzhi Gao (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-08-28
publication date: 2026-08-28
doi: 10.51331/A073

“Basic” Greek Education in the Sanjak of Gjirokastër, 1869-1913.
type: item
description: This article examines Greek-language education in the sanjak of Gjirokastër during the late Ottoman period (1869–1913), emphasizing its role in fostering national consciousness and cultural continuity within a multiethnic imperial context. Drawing on unpublished archival documents, consular correspondence, records of educational associations, and patriarchal sources, the study reconstructs the network of actors involved in education, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate, local metropolises, lay associations, benefactors, and the Greek consulate. These actors operated both cooperatively and competitively, promoting Greek linguistic and cultural identity while navigating Ottoman authority. Associations such as the Association for the Propagation of Greek Literature (SDEG) and the Epirus Educational Association of Constantinople financed schools, teacher training, and scholarships, though chronic financial shortages, limited infrastructure, and administrative interference constrained the implementation of the ambitious curriculum, which combined classical studies with modern sciences. Educational practice emerged as a space of ideological contestation and social mobilization, with textbooks, national and religious celebrations, and church integration functioning as mechanisms of cultural memory and reinforcing collective belonging. The study demonstrates that Greek education in Gjirokastër served as both a spiritual and political stronghold of Hellenism, with institutional development shaped by the interplay of diplomacy, ecclesiastical authority, and civic initiative, laying the groundwork for the educational and national transformations leading to the modern Greek state.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Greek-language education, Sanjak of Gjirokastër, Ottoman Empire, national identity, Ecumenical Patriarchate, educational associations, and cultural memory.
  topic: keywords
creator: Aggeliki Giapoutzopoulou
creator: Pandelis Kiprianos
creator: Georgios Nikolaou
creator: Alexandra Patrikiou
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Giapoutzopoulou Aggeliki, Kiprianos Pandelis , Nikolaou Georgios , Patrikiou Alexandra (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-08-28
publication date: 2026-08-28
doi: 10.51331/A074

Avusturya’nın Kosova Seferi (1689–1691) ve Yerel Reayanın Tepkisi
type: item
description: Özet: Kosova’nın 1690 yılında Habsgurg ordusu tarafından işgali, Osmanlı dönemi Kosova tarihinin en önemli safhalarından birini oluşturmaktadır. Üstelik yaklaşık bir yıl süren bu işgal, günümüzde dahi Arnavut ve Sırp tarihçiler arasında tartışmalara konu olmaya devam etmektedir. Bilindiği üzere Sırp efsanevi tarih yazımı, Sırpların Kosova üzerindeki tarihsel hak iddiasını (1389 Birinci Kosova Savaşı’ndan itibaren) merkeze alan bir anlatıyı hâkim kılmayı başarmıştır. Bu anlatı, Pavle Julinac’ın tezine dayandırılmakta ve yazılı biçimde sözde “Kosova’dan Büyük Sırp Göçü” olarak ortaya konulmaktadır. Bu tür tarih yazımı, Ortodoks Kilisesi’nin tarihine ve İpek (Peja) Patrikhanesi’ne mensup Ortodoks ruhban sınıfını temsil eden III. Arseniye Çarnoyeviç’in (1683–1706) şahsiyetine odaklanmaktadır. Avusturya ordularının geri çekilmesinin ardından Ortodoks Patriği ile birlikte yaklaşık 30.000 Ortodoksun (Sırp, Arnavut, Bulgar vb.) Macaristan’a göç etmesi, Sırp milliyetçi araştırmacılar tarafından, 1691 yılında Osmanlı idaresinin söz konusu bölgelere yeniden hâkim olmasından sonra Kosova’nın demografik yapısında etnik bir dönüşüm yaşandığı yönündeki iddialara temel dayanaklardan biri olarak ileri sürülmüştür. Bu çalışma, Kutsal İttifak orduları tarafından Kosova’nın işgalini, Kosova reayasının bu işgale yaklaşımını ve 1691 yılı boyunca Osmanlı idaresiyle olan ilişkilerini ele almayı amaçlamaktadır. Abstract: The conquest of Kosovo by the Habsburg army in 1690 constitutes one of the most important phases of the history of Kosovo during the Ottoman period. Moreover, this conquest, which lasted approximately one year, continues to be a subject of debate between Albanian and Serbian historians even today. As is known, Serbian mythological historiography has managed to create a narrative that focuses on the historical claim of the Serbs to Kosovo (since the First Battle of Kosovo in 1389). This narrative is based on the thesis of Pavle Julinac and is presented in written form as the…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Kosova, Avusturya Işgali, Pjetër Bogdani, Arsenije III, Toma Raspassari.
  topic: keywords
creator: Agron Islami
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Agron Islami (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 46
ending page: 66
doi: 10.51331/A066

Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky “Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and The Late Ottoman State” Stanford University Press, 2024, p.340
type: item
description: Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky’s book, Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, is a history of North Caucasian (largely, but not exclusively, Circassian) migration between the Russian and Ottoman empires in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. More specifically, it looks at how the expulsion of Muslim North Caucasians from their homeland and their subsequent resettlement in the Ottoman lands shaped the policies of both the Ottoman and Russian empires, as well as serving as a precedent for later refugee and citizenship regimes and subsequent expulsions and population transfers across the old world.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: refugee
  topic: keywords
subject: muhajir
  topic: keywords
subject: north caucasian
  topic: keywords
subject: circassian
  topic: keywords
creator: Günay Kayarlar
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Günay Kayarlar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 121
ending page: 124
doi: 10.51331/aef2ps48

İrade ve Kader Arasında:Dr. Ethem Bakar’ın (1877-1945) Biyografisi ve Düşünce Dünyası
type: item
description: Özet: Bu çalışma, Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e geçişin sancılı zihniyet dönüşümünü, dönemin Tıbbiyeli ay-dın tipolojisinin karakteristik bir örneği olan Dr. Ethem Bakar (1877-1945) üzerinden tahlil etmektedir. Selanikli, Fransa eğitimli ve pozitivist bir hekim olan Bakar, bilimi toplumsal bir kurtuluş reçetesi olarak gören kuşağının tipik bir temsilcisidir. Çalışma, uzun yıllar Jules Payot’nun bir tercümesi sanılan Terbiye-i İrâde’nin, Bakar’a ait özgün bir telif eser olduğunu birinci el kaynaklarla teyit ederek, müellifin bu eserle “kendi kaderini tayin eden rasyonel birey”i inşa etme çabasını merkeze almaktadır. Bununla birlikte aile arşivleri, hususi evrak ve sözlü tarih verilerine dayanan bu araştırma, Bakar’ı sadece kamusal alandaki bilimsel kimliğiyle değil, Sabetayist (Avdetî) kökeninin getirdiği “suskunluk yükü” ve evlat acısıyla yaşadığı trajedinin dönüştürdüğü “mahrem” kimliğiyle birlikte ele almaktadır. Makale, irade ve bilimle her türlü kaderin yenilebileceğine inanan Cumhuriyet modernleşmesinin, insanî olan (yas, ölüm ve kimlik) karşısında yaşadığı ontolojik gerilimi ve bu sürecin özneler üzerinde meydana getirdiği ruhsal maliyeti, Dr. Ethem’in şahsi hikâyesi üzerinden ortaya koymaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler:Terbiye-i İrâde, Dr. Ethem Bakar, Tıp Tarihi, Biyografi, Sabetaycılık, Modernleşme Abstract: This study analyzes the painful intellectual transformation during the transition from the Otto-man Empire to the Republic through the portrait of Dr. Ethem Bakar (1877-1945) , a characteristic example of the Tıbbiyeli intellectual typology of the era. Bakar, a Salonica-born, French-educated, and positivist physician, represents a generation that viewed science as a prescription for social salvation. Confirming through primary sources that Terbiye-i İrâde (The Education of the Will)—long assumed to be a translation of Jules Payot’s work— is an original monograph by Bakar, this study focuses on the author’s effort to con-struct a “rational individual who determines…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Dr. Ethem Bakar
  topic: keywords
subject: Education of the Will
  topic: keywords
subject: Imperial School of Medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: Biography
  topic: keywords
creator: Ömer Faruk CAN
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Ömer Faruk CAN (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 9
ending page: 36
doi: 10.51331/cpr3vh75

Xavier Bougarel, Nadživjeti Carstva: Islam, nacionalni identitet i politička lojalnost u Bosni i Hercegovini, drugo izdanje, Udruženje za modernu historiju, Sarajevo, 2023, 408 pp.
type: item
description: This review examines Xavier Bougarel’s Nadživjeti Carstva: Islam, nacionalni identitet i politička lojalnost u Bosni i Hercegovini (2nd ed., 2023), a comprehensive study of Bosnian Muslim political identity from the late Ottoman period to the post-Dayton era. Bougarel’s central argument challenges teleological narratives of nationalism by proposing that Bosnian Muslims historically developed their collective identity not through a sovereign national project, but through strategic loyalty to existing imperial and state structures. Rather than conceptualizing Bosnian Muslims as a failed nation, he interprets their political behaviour as a rational response to demographic vulnerability, institutional dependency, and shifting imperial power. The book traces this logic across three major transitions: the Austro-Hungarian occupation, the disillusionment with Yugoslav unitarism, and the violent search for security during the Second World War. Bougarel’s interpretation reframes Muslim agency within broader post-imperial dynamics, offering a non-ethnocentric lens on identity formation in the Balkans. Methodologically, the work relies on elite discourse, political publications, and institutional texts rather than archival microhistory, which allows for a wide interpretive synthesis but also produces analytical blind spots regarding internal diversity. Bougarel’s study is a valuable contribution to historiography, nationalism studies, and Islamic politics in Southeastern Europe. It challenges conventional narratives and prompts new discussions on sovereignty, minority politics, and continuity in post-imperial spaces.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
creator: Meldin Kešetović
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Meldin Kešetović (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 125
ending page: 128
doi: 10.51331/2pk0hd39

Sarajevski pjesnik Zekerija Sukerija: književno-teorijska studija i izbor iz Divana
type: item
description: Through Bosnian oriental and literary studies of the past, the life and work of Zekerija Sukerija was mostly unexplored and concentrated in a few short articles. The study “Sarajevski pjesnik Zekerija Sukerija: književno-teorijska studija i izbor iz Divana” [Sarajevo poet Zekerijja Sukkeri: a literary-theoretical study and a selection from Divan”] represents a valuable contribution to contemporary oriental and literary study in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
creator: Omer Merzić
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Omer Merzić (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 125
ending page: 128
doi: 10.51331/jkmm1324

By All means Necessary: The Rescuing of the Albanian Jews During the Holocaust
type: item
description: The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the tragic and devastating event of the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe. The Jews and other racial minorities were rounded up across Europe and slaughtered by the German Nazi regime. Little was done to save, and rescue jews during that dark period, that is why the story of Albania, a small country in the Balkans, in which the entire country protected the Jewish community is so remarkable (Savich, 2002). This paper will try to examine the heroic rescuing efforts made by the state and people of Albania during the holocaust while focusing on the Albanian moral code of honor known as “Besa”. This paper will also provide an overview of the impact of that action.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: holocaust, Muslims, Albanian, righteous among the nations
  topic: keywords
creator: Ofer Muchtar
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 OFER MUCHTAR (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 68
ending page: 84
doi: 10.51331/A070

Performing Europe: Speech Acts and the Discursive Construction of European Integration in Albanian Political Discourse
type: item
description: Abstract: This paper examines how Albanian political leaders discursively construct European integration as a process of identity formation, legitimacy, and political belonging. Since the early 2000s, Albania’s aspiration to join the European Union (EU) has functioned not only as a policy objective but also as a central element of national self-representation. At the highest levels of state authority, discourse on European integration performs a symbolic reorientation from historically grounded political identities toward a contemporary European normative framework. Drawing on Speech Act Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis, this study examines an extensive corpus of public speeches delivered by Prime Minister Edi Rama from September 2013 to the present, with particular emphasis on the period 2019–2025. The corpus is supplemented by selected speeches by senior ministers directly involved in the European integration process: Olta Xhaçka, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (January 2021–September 2023); Igli Hasani, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs (September 2023–September 2025); and Taulant Balla, Minister of Internal Affairs (July 2023–July 2024). Adopting a diachronic, identity-oriented perspective, the analysis investigates how illocutionary acts function as discursive resources in the evolving construction of Albania’s European identity over time. The findings identify four interrelated performative functions—commitment, legitimation, mobilization, and identification—realized through commissive, assertive, directive, expressive, and declarative acts. These speech acts not only articulate policy positions but also enact Europe as a cultural, moral, and political point of belonging. While performative discourse sustains institutional credibility and collective belief in the European project, its success ultimately depends on material reform and political delivery. The study demonstrates that Albania’s European integration is simultaneously a politica…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
creator: Ardita Dylgjeri
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Ardita Dylgjeri (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2026-02-24
publication date: 2026-02-24
starting page: 86
ending page: 112
doi: 10.51331/7epcem56

The Balkan Football Cup as an Instrument of Political Rapprochement in the Balkans (1929–1936)
type: item
description: During the interwar period, the Balkan states were plagued by mutual mistrust, which hindered any possibility of deeper cooperation among them. Despite ongoing political issues, efforts were made to improve relations, and football emerged as a means to bridge the divides. In the late 1920s, football players became national symbols, with their successes and failures reflecting on their countries' reputations, but also on relations with other nations. Eventually, the growing popularity of football in the Balkans led to the organization of the Balkan Cup, a football competition between Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, which was also intended as a political tool to bring this region's countries closer together. In total, there were six Balkan Cups, and each one had its distinguished political background. What should have been used as a tool for closer relations had become an area where current political issues had been manifested in sports. As a result, football suffered, and politics overshadowed the potential for sport to foster unity in the region. The Balkan Cup was canceled due to the shifting political landscape in Europe and the diverse sports and political aspirations of the Balkan nations. This paper explores precisely the role of the Balkan Cup as a political instrument aimed at fostering cooperation among Balkan states between 1929 and 1936.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Balkan kup
  topic: keywords
subject: Football
  topic: keywords
subject: Politics
  topic: keywords
subject: Balkan
  topic: keywords
subject: sport
  topic: keywords
creator: Nikola Mijatov
creator: Nemanja Mitrović
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Nikola Mijatov, Nemanja Mitrović (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 279
ending page: 308
doi: 10.51331/A065

AHMET ERDEM TOZOĞLU, “DEMİRYOLU VE KENT 19. YÜZYILDA OSMANLI BALKAN ŞEHİRLERİNİN MEKÂNSAL DEĞİŞİMİ”,Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2024, XII+352 PAGES, ISBN: 9786254299599.
type: item
description: Ahmet Erdem Tozoğlu’s book, Demiryolu ve Kent (Railway and City), originates from his 2013 doctoral dissertation, which was written in English at Middle East Technical University. The author developed the research over nearly 10 years before its Turkish publication. It makes the book an adaptation rather than a translation of the dissertation. The book is based on the primary sources, including archival documents, maps, plans, memoirs, periodicals and visual materials. The relevant academic literature, comprising dissertations, articles, books and other previously studies are also used. One of the main sources originates from the Ottoman archive. The majority of the other sources are drawn from Turkish and English literature, with additional use of German and, to a lesser extent French materials. In conclusion, this book stands as a premier study interpreting Ottoman modernization through the lens of railway projects. Furthermore, in terms of different approaches to Ottoman modernization, as the author hopes, many comparative studies should be revealed in the future.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
creator: Anıl Göç
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Anıl Göç (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 319
ending page: 323
doi: 10.51331/B19

Between Empires, Among Believers: A Microhistorical and Borderland Analysis of Benedikt Kuripešić’s 1530 Travel Diary
type: item
description: This article offers a microhistorical and borderland-centered analysis of Benedikt Kuripešić’s 1530-1531 travel diary, composed during a Habsburg diplomatic mission to Ottoman Constantinople. Often cited yet rarely studied in depth, Kuripešić’s text is reinterpreted here as more than a record of geographic movement; it is a rich epistemic artifact that captures early modern inter-imperial friction in the Balkan borderlands. Drawing on the methodologies of Carlo Ginzburg and Anssi Paasi, the article argues that Kuripešić’s diary reveals how borders were experienced not only through political boundaries but through affective registers: faith, fear, memory, and resistance. Through close readings of selected diary entries, such as encounters with chained Christian children or whispered appeals from peasants, the article illuminates the lived experience of Ottoman-Christian coexistence. It also traces Kuripešić’s rhetorical positioning as interpreter, diplomat, and narrator of martyrdom, highlighting how sacred geography and narrative mapping became acts of Christian counter-sovereignty. The legend of Miloš Obilić, retold with reverence, is analyzed as a key site of myth-making and identity projection. Furthermore, the article explores the Ottoman strategies of governance; taxation, devşirme, and regulated religious tolerance, as an early form of “soft conquest”, prefiguring modern theories of biopolitics. By combining microhistory and border theory, the study demonstrates that Kuripešić’s “small text” bears large historical implications for understanding Balkan identity, imperial subjectivity, and religious resilience across fluid frontiers.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Kuripešić
  topic: keywords
subject: Devşirme
  topic: keywords
subject: Microhistory
  topic: keywords
subject: Christian martyrdom
  topic: keywords
subject: Miloš Obilić
  topic: keywords
subject: Sacred geography
  topic: keywords
subject: Habsburg-Ottoman relations
  topic: keywords
creator: Srđan Jovanović
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Srđan Jovanović (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 213
ending page: 239
doi: 10.51331/A063

MALEČKOVÁ, JITKA. “THE TURK” IN THE CZECH IMAGINATION, BRILL RODOPI, LEIDEN-BOSTON, 2021. ISBN: 978-90-04-44079-1, S. 240.
type: item
description: One of the nations perceiving the Ottoman-Turkish image as ‘other’ is the Czechs. The perception of images of the ‘other’ in Western eyes is more related to ‘collective memory’. This is one of the main problematics of Malečková's study, which seeks to explore the uniqueness of the Czechs' own orientalist perspectives on the Ottoman-Turkish image in comparison to other tribes in Europe. The adventure of the book, which consists of four chapters, concentrates on explaining the main motifs in the interaction of the two nations, which have transitioned from empire to nation-state, with each other through the theory of imagology. The continuity in the images of the ‘other’ in Czech-Turkish relations is noteworthy for the timeliness of the study. Malečková has associated the Ottoman-Turkish image in European and Czech eyes in particular with ‘Christian hostility’. Malečková identifies that the stereotypes about the Middle East have formed a perception of ‘Turk=Muslim, Muslim=Turk’ and that this attitude is applied even to Slavic Muslims. Another important contribution of the book to the literature is the history of how Orientalism and Orientalist studies were problematised from the Western perspective and according to which criteria their arguments were determined. In the Czech imagination, the Ottoman-Turkish imaginary has positive and negative correspondences. Political tensions between the two nations, cooperation and travelling for various purposes paved the way for the formation of images. This ground has led the Czechs to reveal their collective memory of ethnic nations. In the light of this context, the main argument of the study is to discuss and problematise whether the Czechs have a ‘Turk’ of their own.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: Turkish Image
  topic: keywords
subject: Ottoman Image
  topic: keywords
subject: Czech Imagination
  topic: keywords
subject: Turkish Modernisation.
  topic: keywords
creator: Barkın Burak Bingöl
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Barkın Burak Bingöl (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 311
ending page: 317
doi: 10.51331/B18

Hikmet Karčić, Genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini - institucije, počinioci i posljedice, Institut za islamsku tradiciju Bošnjaka - Sarajevo, 2024, 156.
type: item
description: Hikmet Karčić's book "Genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini - institucije, počinioci i posljedice" provides a shocking study of the camp system and the way in which mass war crimes, from sexual abuse to genocide, were carried out during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. As emphasized in the subtitle of the book itself, the emphasis of the book is placed on the institutional structures that enabled the crimes to be carried out.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
creator: Omer Merzić
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Omer Merzić (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 325
ending page: 327
doi: 10.51331/B20

From Consular Office to Trade Corridor: The Diplomatic Networks and Commercial Roles of Levantine Merchants in Ottoman Salonica and Smyrna (1780-1860)
type: item
description: This article examines how Levantine merchants in Ottoman Salonica and Smyrna navigated and shaped both diplomatic networks and commercial circuits between 1780 and 1860. Building on recent scholarship in commercial diplomacy and network analysis, it argues that the liberalization of the Levant Company (1744; 1753 Acts) fostered a hybrid class of “broker-diplomats” who leveraged consular commissions to secure firmans, tariff advantages, and cargo quotas while simultaneously expanding independent trade in opium, textiles, and other high-value commodities (Serdaroğlu, 2019, pp. 406–407; Schulz, 2014, pp. 120–121). The study reconstructs the Smyrna-Salonica corridor as a contiguous economic space through prosopographical network analysis of key figures (Webster, Wedderburn, Peach, Hague) and GIS mapping of maritime and caravan routes. Archival diplomatic correspondence (The National Archives FO 78) and factory account ledgers further reveal how gift-giving and consular privileges underpinned commercial expansion (Vlami, 2014, pp. 10–12; Demiryürek, 2023, pp. 113–114). Theoretically anchored in commercial diplomacy and Actor–Network Theory, our findings illuminate the entanglement of formal and informal networks that underwrote British commercial dominance in the Ottoman Levant.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Commercial Diplomacy
  topic: keywords
subject: Smyrna and Salonica
  topic: keywords
subject: Diplomatic Networks
  topic: keywords
subject: Ottoman Levantines
  topic: keywords
subject: Merchant Networks
  topic: keywords
creator: Üzeyir Serdar Serdaroğlu
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Üzeyir Serdar Serdaroğlu (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 241
ending page: 277
doi: 10.51331/A064

Selective Justice? Empirically Testing for Double Standards in the ICC's Palestine and Ukraine Investigations
type: item
description: Despite its proclaimed dedication to universal justice, the International Criminal Court has long been accused of double standards in its administration of justice. To evaluate the veracity of these claims, this study conducts a comparative empirical analysis of ICC prosecutorial practice, examining procedural and discursive patterns across two contemporary investigations to gauge the institution’s consistency across different geopolitical contexts. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of prosecutorial timelines, resource allocation, field presence, and official communications, this research documents significant disparities in how the Ukraine and Palestine situations are treated by the Office of the Prosecutor. The empirical findings reveal substantial variations in prosecutorial urgency, resource deployment, and rhetorical framing. Discourse analysis of official statements further reveals systematic variations in the sequencing and characterisation of victims and perpetrators through linguistic choices, particularly in ways that disadvantage Palestinian parties. The inconsistencies identified risk fostering a perception of a two-tiered system, even as the institution takes politically costly steps to uphold its neutrality, thereby challenging the Court’s legitimacy and undermining its claim to impartiality. The findings ultimately suggest that the problem may be more nuanced than a simple “double standard” accusation, pointing instead to more subtle, yet significant, asymmetries in the administration of justice.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: International Criminal Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Double Standards
  topic: keywords
subject: Palestine
  topic: keywords
subject: Ukraine
  topic: keywords
creator: Hasan Basri Bulbul
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Hasan Basri Bulbul (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-06-30
publication date: 2025-06-30
starting page: 49
ending page: 82
doi: 10.51331/A059

By Any Other Name: Expressive Implications of Reconceptualizing an International Crime as Another through the Examples of Ecocide and Aggression
type: item
description: The progressive development of international criminal law is part of a long tradition. International criminal norms have evolved in a process focused on expanding the protection of the underlying values of the system and its anti-impunity agenda. This has also implied the strategic classification of ambiguous underlying acts under different crimes depending on prosecutorial or institutional considerations. However, this article observes a different recent trend in academic discourse, in which an international crime is fully reconceptualized as another in order to overcome jurisdictional limitations. Ecocide and aggression are identified as the primary examples emerging in legal literature. In the case of the former, the reconceptualization proposals have been met with support by the International Criminal Court itself. In the case of aggression, the proposals remain very marginal in legal discourse. This article examines this trend through the lens of expressivism, thus exploring its promises and perils in terms of communicative impact, and it argues that such reconceptualization conveys some problematic messages that warrant further analysis.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: International Criminal Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Aggression
  topic: keywords
subject: Ecocide
  topic: keywords
subject: Expressivism
  topic: keywords
creator: Vera Piovesan
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Vera Piovesan (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-06-30
publication date: 2025-06-30
starting page: 109
ending page: 128
doi: 10.51331/A061

Assessing The Effectiveness and Adequacy of Provisional Measures in Genocide Cases: A Comparative Study
type: item
description: In international law, provisional measures refer to orders directed at the parties in a pending dispute, requiring them to act or refrain from acting in a certain way to safeguard their rights until a final judgment is rendered. The vast majority of international courts are vested with the authority to issue provisional measures. As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) highlighted in the Nuclear Tests Case, provisional measures constitute an inherent power of the Court. Similarly, in the Fisheries Jurisdiction Case, the ICJ emphasized that the purpose of such measures is to preclude irreparable harm and ensure the protection of the parties’ rights until the conclusion of the case. In its LaGrand Case, the ICJ further underscored that provisional measures are binding. However, despite their binding nature, the enforcement of provisional measures still remains problematic. Given that their implementation is generally deemed to be ensured and enforced by the Security Council, even in cases involving the prevention of genocide -a jus cogens norm- provisional measures have failed to meet expectations. While the enforceability of provisional measures is frequently debated, their legal capacity is less scrutinized. However, the primary duty of the Court is to issue measures capable of preventing and precluding irreparable harm. Under the Genocide Convention, the ICJ has so far dealt with four cases -Bosnia, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Gaza- where the adequacy of the provisional measures ordered so far has been subject to criticism. In cases like Bosnia, Myanmar, and Gaza, the Court’s measures have been questioned for being insufficient, whereas in Ukraine, the Court’s approach has been contested for misconceptualizing the issue. Moreover, in certain cases, ICJ judges argued the insufficiency of provisional measures. This study will first outline the general framework and purpose of provisional measures. Subsequently, it will provide a comparative analysis of the provisional …
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: International Law
  topic: keywords
subject: Provisional Measures
  topic: keywords
subject: Genocide
  topic: keywords
subject: ICJ
  topic: keywords
subject: Adequacy
  topic: keywords
creator: Ali Osman Karaoğlu
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Ali Osman Karaoğlu (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-06-30
publication date: 2025-06-30
starting page: 7
ending page: 27
doi: 10.51331/A057

From Berlin to Istanbul: The First Balkan Passengers of the Ottoman-German Alliance
type: item
description: At the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman Empire and Germany signed a secret alliance treaty, which obligated Germany to protect Ottoman territories. Although the Ottoman government initially declared neutrality, it had committed to joining the war on Germany’s side once mobilization was complete. This necessitated strengthening the defense of strategic locations, particularly the Bosporus and Dardanelles. At the same time, the Ottoman Navy had to be reinforced. In August 1914, to fortify the straits and navy, more than 500 German military and technical personnel, led by Admiral Guido von Usedom, were secretly transported to Istanbul via the Balkans. To avoid attracting attention, the journey was conducted under civilian disguise with careful planning. This operation marked the first major military deployment under the alliance and significantly increased German influence in Istanbul while the Ottoman Empire was still officially neutral. The article examines this journey through the accounts of German officers and archival documents.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ottoman
  topic: keywords
subject: German Empire
  topic: keywords
subject: World War I
  topic: keywords
subject: Balkan journey
  topic: keywords
subject: Straits
  topic: keywords
creator: Yusuf Ziya ALTINTAŞ
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Yusuf Ziya Altıntaş (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-07-30
publication date: 2025-07-30
starting page: 189
ending page: 211
doi: 10.51331/A062

The Controlled Disorder as a USA Transitional Strategy toward Multipolarity
type: item
description: This paper attempts to show the deliberate and systematic actions of the world superpower (USA) in creating a state of controlled chaos. The reason for such an approach lies in the inevitable change in global relations in which the superpower must define its new position and prepare for the near future in which it no longer has a dominant role. This discourse can be used to analyze the reasons for the war in Ukraine, as well as the reasons for the rise in tensions on the great dividing line between East and West. Considering that the established global order is slowly disappearing, and the emerging new multipolar world is increasingly showing signs of strength and vitality, all this opens the door to a general rethinking of future relations. The already disavowed international law and unclear international order are a factor in increasing insecurity throughout the world, while the double standards that have become a basic feature of the Western democracies speak of the serious problems that global politics has fallen into. Additionally, American militarism intertwined with concept of inalienable rights hardly works as universal value anymore. “America first”, Trump’s slogan, can and should be understood in this sense as a return to the isolationist policy, but also to exploit all the opportunities that brings the benefits to US, and not as a necessary call for remaining in the position of a superpower.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: international order
  topic: keywords
subject: multipolarity
  topic: keywords
subject: global transition
  topic: keywords
creator: Admir Mulaosmanovic
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Admir Mulaosmanovic (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-06-30
publication date: 2025-06-30
doi: 10.51331/A060

The UN Security Council Through The Numbers: How Does The Council Maintain International Peace in Practice?
type: item
description: The recent major ineffectiveness or inactivity of the UN Security Council in the Russian aggression over Ukraine, Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon or the conflict in Sudan, has sparked renewed criticism and calls for reform of this body. The Council was envisioned to be the international community’s primary authority in the maintenance of peace and security, yet too often it seems like the Council is failing in its responsibility. Thus, a question arises as to how the Council has acted in its responsibility so far in practice? How engaged the Council was overall; where did it (prefer to) take action, how long it took the Council to act, or what were the main driving factors for its (in)action, are some of the main subquestions that should be answered in this regard. Drawing on numerous different studies on the Council’s engagement in various types of conflicts and crises, this work presents their main findings and interprets them in order to understand the Council as an institution in practice. Putting these studies side by side with an interpretation of the UN Charter provisions referring to the powers and responsibilities of the Council, as well as subsequent normative and other practical developments related to the (UN) security system, this work offers thoughts on how to interpret the Council’s record and how to address some of its failures.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: UN Security Council (UNSC)
  topic: keywords
subject: UN Charter
  topic: keywords
subject: international peace and security
  topic: keywords
subject: armed conflicts
  topic: keywords
creator: Ljupcho Stojkovski
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Ljupcho Stojkovski (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-06-30
publication date: 2025-06-30
starting page: 29
ending page: 48
doi: 10.51331/A058

The “Heretics” Hermeneutics: Bosnia and Balkan Bogomils in the Mirror of Modern Hungarian Literature As Potential(Borrowed?) Theaters of Multidimensional Orientalism
type: item
description: In Hungary, situated in Central-Eastern Europe, the historical and cultural investigation of its relationship with the Balkans holds particular relevance due to the country’s unique and shifting historical position. Hungary has experienced distinct phases in its history: as a medieval middle power, later as a territory under Austrian rule, and subsequently as a state-forming entity within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. This progression has shaped Hungary’s perception of its neighbors and its role within European ideological currents, particularly those influenced by Orientalist discourses. The portrayal of the Bosnian (primarily identified – and subject to historical debate – as "Bogomils")in Hungarian historical literature is a compelling case in point. While not explicitly tied to imperial expansionist ambitions, such representations reflect European tendencies of “Othering,” where the “heretics” – often dismissed as heretics, tribal, or primitive – were situated in opposition to Western or Catholic norms. This dynamic was further complicated by Hungary’s intermediary status between Western Europe and the Balkans, creating a cultural and epistemological space that was neither fully “Orientalized” nor wholly part of the Western Occident. Hungary’s historical entanglement with the Balkans, therefore, offers a nuanced vantage point from which to examine Orientalist tendencies. These explorations are further elevated by the ideological debates surrounding the continuity between the medieval Bogomils and the later Bosnian Muslim population. The widely challenged notion that the Bogomils would have been "predecessors" of Bosnian Muslims adds another layer of ideological tension, particularly within critiques of Islam, which often bear a degree of ideological saturation. At first glance, Hungary’s portrayals of the Bosnian Christians cannot be isolated from broader European perceptions of Islam, where the historical Crusades, medieval animosities, and Enlightenment-era O…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Hungary
  topic: keywords
subject: Balkans
  topic: keywords
subject: heretics
  topic: keywords
subject: Bogomils
  topic: keywords
subject: Orientalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Literature
  topic: keywords
subject: Crusades
  topic: keywords
subject: Islam
  topic: keywords
creator: Marton Ivanyi
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Marton Ivanyi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 79
ending page: 112
doi: 10.51331/A053

The Political Movement for the Republic of Kosovo – July 2, 1990
type: item
description: The purpose of writing this paper is to provide new information on the political situation in Kosovo during the year 1990, with a particular focus on the political movement in Kosovo for the Republic of Kosovo. The analysis of the July 2nd event holds significant importance for Albanian historiography, marking the first major step by Albanians of Kosovo in opposing the March 1989 constitution, which had revoked Kosovo's autonomy a status initially achieved through the 1974 constitution. As a result, Kosovo was reclassified as a subject under the Serbian Republic. My study's focus on the July 2nd event aims to examine archival sources and interpret them using an analytical method, to offer a perspective on one of Kosovo’s most pivotal events in the 1990s. The objectives of the paper will focus on the political situation in Kosovo following the abolition of Kosovo's autonomy, which influenced the political developments in Kosovo during 1990. The focus will then shift to the constitutional declaration of July 2nd, the delegates, the developments during the declaration of the republic, the decisions made during the session, as well as the developments after the July 2nd event and the international reactions. This work relies heavily on archival resources from the State Agency of Kosovo Archives (ASHAK), the Municipal Archive of Kaçanik, the "Sadik Tafarshiku" Library, and the "Rilindja", "Bujku", "Bota Sot" newspapers. In addressing this topic, my focus has been on uncovering archival sources and interpreting them. Based on this approach, I will present various archival documents, including the minutes from July 2, 1990—a historical event symbolizing the declaration of Kosovo’s republic within the framework of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). This act demonstrates Kosovo’s reaction against the 1989 constitution, which revoked its autonomy, indicating Kosovo’s position as equal to the other republics within the SFRY. This reaction was marked in the ha…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Autonomy
  topic: keywords
subject: Yugoslavia
  topic: keywords
subject: Rebuplic
  topic: keywords
subject: Kosovo
  topic: keywords
subject: July
  topic: keywords
creator: Agon Krasniqi
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Agon Krasniqi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 149
ending page: 168
doi: 10.51331/A056

Sedad Bešlija, Hercegovački sandžak u 17. stoljeću (17. Yüzyılda Hersek Sancağı)
type: item
description: Sedad Bešlija’nın 2023 yılında kaleme aldığı Hercegovački sandžak u 17. stoljeću (17. Yüzyılda Hersek Sancağı) adlı eser, Saraybosna Üniversitesi Tarih Enstitüsü tarafından yayımlanmış olup, 330 sayfa hacmindedir ve Boşnakça dilinde yazılmıştır. Bu kitap, yazarın 2015 yılında Saraybosna Üniversitesinde savunduğu doktora tezine dayanmaktadır. Kitapta işaret edilen tarih yazımında da vurgulanan temel husus, 17. yüzyıl Bosna Hersek tarihinin en az araştırılan dönemlerden biri olduğudur.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
creator: Enes Turbic
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Enes Turbic (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 181
ending page: 189
doi: 10.51331/B17

İki Savaş Bir Coğrafya: Yaşar Nabi Nayır’ın Balkanlar ve Türklük İle Değişen Dünyamız Adlı Eserlerınde Değişen Balkanlar İmgesi
type: item
description: Özet: 1789 yılında Fransız İhtilali’nin etkisiyle ortaya çıkan milliyetçilik fikri Osmanlı Devleti gibi çok uluslu devletlerin parçalanmasına sebep olur. Söz konusu fikrin Osmanlı Devleti’ndeki en belirgin yansıması Birinci ve İkinci Balkan savaşlarıyla Osmanlı Devleti’nin Balkan coğrafyasının neredeyse tamamına yakınını kaybetmesidir. Bu iki savaşın hemen ardından patlak veren I. Dünya Savaşı, Osmanlı Devleti’nin bu savaştan yenilgiyle ayrılması ve sonrasındaki siyasi, ekonomik ve sosyal gelişmeler kaçınılmaz olarak edebî ilginin de savaş sonrası koşullara yönelmesine sebep olur. Dolayısıyla yeni sınırlarla beraber milliyetçilik fikri etrafında beliren Türk edebiyatında Balkanlar’ın ihmal edildiği görülür. Ancak Balkanlar’da yaşanan siyasi gelişmelere bağlı olarak bölgeden Türkiye’ye göçlerin başlaması, Balkan ülkeleri arasında Balkan Konferanslarının düzenlenmesi ve 1934 yılında imzalanan Balkan Antantı ile Türk edebiyatının Balkanlar’a yöneldiğini söyleyebiliriz. Gerek sanat ve edebiyat dergilerinde Balkanlar’a yönelik gezi yazıları, makaleler, şiirler ve hikâyeler gerek müstakil olarak romanlar bu yönelişin somut göstergeleridir. Bu kapsamda Üsküp doğumlu Yaşar Nabi Nayır, Balkanlar’da yaşanan gelişmeler sonrası Varlık dergisinde hem Balkanlar’ın hem Balkan Türklerinin mevcut durumlarını anlatan makaleler kaleme alır. Birçoğu Yaşar Nabi Nayır’ın Balkan seyahatindeki gözlemlerine dayanan bu makaleler daha sonra 1936 yılında Ulus Basımevi tarafından Balkanlar ve Türklük adıyla kitaplaştırılır. II. Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonra değişen yeni dünya düzeninde tekrar Balkanlar’a giden Yaşar Nabi Nayır, bu seyahatindeki gözlemlerini birçok farklı dergide yayımlar. Daha sonra bu yazıları 1973 yılında Varlık Yayınları tarafından Değişen Dünyamız ismiyle kitaplaştırılır. Söz konusu iki eser incelendiğinde yazarın Balkanlar’a yönelik düşüncelerinin değiştiği fark edilir. Bu makalenin amacı Yaşar Nabi Nayır’ın bu iki eserindeki Balkan izlenimlerinin ve düşünce…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Balkanlar
  topic: keywords
subject: Yaşar Nabi Nayır
  topic: keywords
subject: Balkanlar ve Türklük
  topic: keywords
subject: Değişen Dünyamız
  topic: keywords
creator: İlhan İlhan
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 İlhan Süzgün (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 113
ending page: 147
doi: 10.51331/A054

The ‘Conquering’ Soldier-Merchants of the Balkans: Colonization, State Interventionism and Separatist Claims in the Danubian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (18th-19th Centuries)
type: item
description: This article studies the questions of self-rule and state intervention in the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and the socio-economic life of a late frontier society against the backdrop of the eighteenth-century wave of internal colonization by Ottoman Muslims, mostly of Janissary background. It aims at revealing complex relations between agents on three levels: local (voivodes, boyars, commoners), the regional (Janissaries and other soldiery) and the imperial; while also examining the influx of Muslims into the Principalities and its consequences as an interplay between various claims of trading rights, provisionist policies implemented by the imperial centre and the autonomous desires of the native nobility. The paper contends that the tributary status of the Principalities provided a major advantage in protecting the local population against Muslim penetration, as manifested in the ensuing direct intervention of the Porte and consequent trade restrictions. From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, the policy of keeping the Muslim-Ottoman presence and activities in the region at a minimum and obtaining full liberty of trade became an important component in the struggle for economic detachment from the Ottoman orbit, which in the long run contributed to the nation-state formation in Romania.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Danube
  topic: keywords
subject: Wallachia and Moldavia
  topic: keywords
subject: Ottoman
  topic: keywords
subject: colonization
  topic: keywords
subject: governmental intervention
  topic: keywords
creator: Aysel Yıldız
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Aysel Yıldız (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 7
ending page: 37
doi: 10.51331/A051

An Assessment on Balkan Historiography
type: item
description: In addition to their own originality in historiography, Muslims inherited the accumulation of ancient civilizational basins such as Hijaz, Bilad al-Sham, Egypt, Maghreb, Andalusia, Iraq, Iran, Sindh and Mawara' al-Nahr. They created a wide variety of genres by making it more systematic and methodological. The Muslim historiography of the 7th-10th centuries, which harmoniously combines authenticity and heritage, was in contact with the Balkans indirectly through the Byzantine Empire during this period. However, its main impact and contribution to the basin was in the 11th-18th centuries, when it continued its development in historiography. During this period, Muslims, especially the Ottomans, who established political dominance in the region modeled the historiography, which had completed its development and developed a methodology, in the basin and brought an era to the activities of the basin in the field of historiography. The historiography, which was based on the narration of either the history of empires or the history of emperors in the form of special histories, has changed and developed with the methodology and model developed by Muslims. İn this regard, they created a great linguistic richness in the basin with Ottoman Turkish, provided diversity through the four main genres of siyar and maghazi, general, special, city and regional histories, and established a close relationship between administrations and historians. As a result, the Balkans have made great progress with the strong contribution and influence of Muslims in historiography. This study deals with the process of historiography in the Balkans in a comprehensive manner. These issues are discussed through more than four hundred historiographers and historical sources, mostly based on historiographical studies available in Turkish and taking into account the activities of the Ottoman Empire, a dynasty of six centuries. The main significance of this study is that it takes the step of presenting the …
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: History
  topic: keywords
subject: Balkans
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subject: Ottoman Empire
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subject: Historiography
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subject: General history
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subject: Special History
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subject: City&Regional Histories
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creator: Abdulkadir Macit
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Abdulkadir Macit (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 39
ending page: 78
doi: 10.51331/A052

Görkem Akgöz, “In the Shadow of War and Empire: Indrustrialisation, Nation Building, and Working-Class Politics in Turkey”
type: item
description: The subject of this review is the book by Görkem Akgöz, titled In the Shadow of War and Empire: Industrialisation, Nation-Building, and Working-Class Politics in Turkey (Brill, Leiden, 2023, xviii, 374 pp. (hardback), ISBN 978 -90-04-41674-1; Open Access (paperback), ISBN 978-90-04-68714-1). I believe that it is an important review subject, as it is a representative of the new currents in the field of labor history, where through a discursive approach to the sources testifying the human condition of the working class, new knowledge is gained about the processes of nation-building and capitalist modernization. The thematic focus in the book is on the industrialization processes in Kemalist Turkey and the impact of the etatist regime on the formation of the new civil and working-class identities. The author offers successful attempts to debunk older official historiographical narratives regarding memory and ideology about workers' lives and relations on the factory shop-floor in the period from the beginning of the 20th century to the mid-1950s.
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: labor history
  topic: keywords
subject: Turkey
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subject: nation-building
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subject: industrialization
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subject: class
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creator: Ivana Hadjievska
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Ivana Hadjievska (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
date: 2025-01-16
publication date: 2025-01-16
starting page: 171
ending page: 177
doi: 10.51331/B16