Review of Büke Uras' The Balyans (original) (raw)
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This essay discusses a set of inadvertent encounters with the late nineteenth and early twentieth century persecution of the Ottoman Armenians in light of Rosalind Morris' notion of " accident, " which implicates the traumatic event as not just a distant, isolated and immutable past but also one that constantly crops up in the present and runs the risk of so doing in the future. The essay draws attention to the multiplicity of the actors and settings involved in the said encounters: bones, trees, living people, mountains, stones, buildings, rivers, fault lines, and valleys. In these encounters, the temporal pervasiveness characteristic of Morris' notion of accident is therefore coupled with its spatial counterpart as it stretches above, below, through and across the geography concerned. This twofold pervasiveness is a call to begin to develop a new notion of truth about the persecution of the Ottoman Armenians—one whose contemporary resonance complicates sequentiality and builds on an entanglement of human-inflicted and natural forms of destruction and violence.
Genel Türk Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2021
In the 19th century, when belief in racial discrimination and superiority could find a response at social and even moral levels, claims about humanity as a biological species turned into some pseudoscientific assumptions. This inevitably constituted a legitimate ground for Orientalist stereotypes such as barbarism, despotism, ignorance, fanaticism, and backwardness directed towards Eastern societies. Orientalism, which has been a baseline for the pride and superiority discourse inherent to the Western society since the second half of the 18th century has been a method for their struggle to examine, learn and reign the East and the Easterners several biased theories and practices which are considered as facts without any doubt. It is possible to approach the American society as a large-scale and heterogeneous sample that represents the West in the analysis of race-based reductionist discourse, which is steered to Eastern civilizations and endeavored to gain legitimacy through Orientalism. This study aims to reveal the locally-penetrated reflections of a number of racist stereotypes claiming to be scientific and which take their place in the American press since the second half of the 19th century in regards to Turkish and Mongolian identities that are frequently positioned opposite to Western societies in the context of being an ‘other’. These two ethnical groups which embrace historically archaic bonds in between has been demonstrated in the local American press as unique sometimes, and neighboring at times; but at the same time, as the carriers of a low-profile culture that can easily be differentiated from Western civilization at every attempt due to its racial specifications. Irksal ayrım ve üstünlüğe yönelik inancın, toplumsal hatta ahlaki düzeylerde karşılık bulabildiği 19. yüzyılda, beşeriyeti biyolojik bir tür olarak ele alan iddialar birtakım sahtebilimsel kabullere dönüşmüştür. Bu durum, Doğulu toplumlara yönelen barbarlık, despotluk, cehalet, fanatizm ve geri kalmışlık gibi Şarkiyatçı basmakalıplara da kaçınılmaz olarak meşru bir zemin sunmuştur. 18. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından itibaren Batı medeniyetine içkin gurur ve üstünlük söylemine dayanak teşkil eden Şarkiyatçılık, Doğu’yu ve Doğuluları gerçekliğinden şüphe edilmeyen bir takım ön yargılı kuram ve pratiklerle inceleme, öğrenme ve onlara hükmetme çabalarına metot oluşturmuştur. Doğulu toplumlara yöneltilen ve modern Şarkiyatçılıkla meşruiyet kazandırılmak istenen ırk temelli indirgemeci söylemin analizinde, Amerikan toplumunu Batı’yı temsil eden geniş ölçekli ve heterojen bir örneklem olarak ele almak mümkündür. Bu çalışma, öteki olma durumu bağlamında sıklıkla Batı toplumlarının karşısında konumlandırılan Türk ve Moğol kimlikleri hakkında, 19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından itibaren Amerikan basınında kendisine yer bulan ve bilimsel olma iddiasındaki birtakım ırkçı basmakalıpların eyaletler düzeyindeki yansımalarını ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Amerikan yerel basınında, aralarında tarihsel olarak kadim bağlar bulunan bu iki etnik grup, kimi zaman özgün kimi zaman ise birbirleriyle akraba fakat sahip oldukları ırksal özellikler sebebiyle Batılı toplumlardan her defasında kolaylıkla ayrıştırılan aşağı bir kültürün taşıyıcıları olarak takdim edilmiştir.
In the second book of his trilogy on the history of the non-dominant ethnic communities after the Young Turk Revolution, Bedross Der Matossian goes from where his first book, Shattered Dreams of Revolution, ends and fills a significant gap in the historiography of mass violence by focusing on the primarily sidelined yet significant Adana massacres of 1909. In Der Matossian's macrocosmic understanding of the Adana massacres, the three factors, none of which are more privileged, are "the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, which shook the foundations of the 'fragile equilibrium' that had existed in the empire for decades; the emergence of resilient public spheres after three decades of despotic rule in which the public sphere was repressed; and the counterrevolution of April 13, 1909" (p. 4). Der Matossian presents and explains the four interrelated themes through which he analyzes the incident as dominant and subaltern public spheres, rumors, emotions, and humanitarianism and humanitarian intervention (p. 10). Der Matossian argues that after the Young Turk Revolution, ethnoreligious tensions arose due to the invention of subaltern counter-publics and the circulation of counter-discourses that led to oppositional interpretations. The emergence of new public spheres represented a change in the status quo. One new subaltern public sphere was the Armenians' socioeconomic and political activities, which led to the dominant groups' lens of "the emotional spectrum of fear, hatred, resentment, and rage" (p. 230). Dissatisfied with the new order, local beneficiaries of the old regime had a unique role in creating fear and anxiety as they disseminated these rumors to all classes of society (p. 13). These rumors "played a critical role in the solidification of the ethnoreligious identity of the dominant group, giving it a sense of bonding and preparing the ground for a violent backlash against the perceived enemy" (p. 230). The Horrors of Adana is told in eight chapters. The first three chapters provide the background of the massacres. Following the introduction, Chapter 1 presents a background to the transformation of Adana in the nineteenth century. There, Der Matossian shows how Adana became one of the most important economic centers in the region and argues that "the dramatically increased competition for resources in the region became the source of ethnoreligious conflict" (p. 49). In Chapter 2, Der Matossian focuses on Adana during the Hamidian period and analyzes how the tensions within the "weak public sphere" were restrained by the powerful Governor Bahri Paşa, who had pro-Armenian inclinations. Chapter 3 covers the months between the Revolution and the massacres. In this chapter, Der Matossian explains how the new post-revolutionary public sphere heightened the fear, anger,
In the first part of the article, dehumanizing character of Western-centric approaches is discussed by focusing on the relations between the emergence period of geopolitics and the Central Asia. Beginning from Mackinder, the Western "subject" is described as based on a highly vivid design of identity; on the otherhand, the societies living in the studied region are transformed into shadows under the decisiveness of geography. In the second part of the article, the factors which has forced this false image to change is showed by making references to cultural/historiographic debates on Turkestan. Also, an alternative approach to geopolitics which underlines the region’s rich historical and cultural heritage is offered through the analysis of Orkhon Inscriptions. Bu çalışmanın ilk bölümünde Batı-merkezli yaklaşımların ‘insanisizleştirici’ karakteri, jeopolitiğin ortaya çıkışı ile Orta Asya arasındaki ilişkilere odaklanarak tartışılmaktadır. Batı ‘öznesi’, Mackinder’den başlayarak son derece canlı bir kimlik tasarımına dayalı olarak tanımlanmakta; öte yandan çalışmaya konu olan bölgede yaşayan toplumlar coğrafyanın belirleyiciliği altında birer gölgeye dönüştürülmektedir. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümünde bu yanlış resmi değişime zorlayan faktörler, Türkistan üzerine kültürel/tarihsel tartışmalara referanslar yaparak gösterilmektedir. Ayrıca bölgenin zengin tarihsel ve kültürel mirasına vurgu yapan jeopolitiğe, Orhun Âbideleri’nin analizi vasıtasıyla alternatif bir yaklaşım sunulmaktadır..
Anıl Yılmaz - Some Remarks on the Term Balbal of Ancient Turks
Cihannüma: Tarih ve Coğrafya Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2018
Two important concept related to burial customs, evolved in the belief of Turkic tribes in Early Medieval Ages. The first is inhumation that anyone dies in the steppe as anywhere else in the world, have to bury somehow. The second is their cultic (memorial) sites; the structures built as an act of recalling in honor of those who have died. Archaeological and historical sources confirm that these cultic constructions were built mainly for representatives of the aristocrats. There are two different type of cultic sites in the steppe: The ones built for Kaghans (and their family members) are more complicated than the ones built for the Beghs (Lord, head of the tribe). Those built for the Beghs (and their families) are more common in the Steppe. A statue was placed in the east section of a square area made of slab stones and has a single stone line extending through east. Each stone in this line is called balbal. Different views exist among the researchers regarding the purpose of these stones, although many of them agree that each stone symbolizes the enemy killed by the buried in his lifetime. Despite this, there are uncertainties regarding the purpose and functions of these line of stone. In this article, our inquiry focus on this confusion about the meaning of the concept and propose the probable function according to historical, archaeological and social data overlooked by researchers.
Usages Politiques Du Passe et Controverses Historiographiques Le Cas Du Massacre De Batak
Cairn, 2009
Cet article interroge, à travers l'analyse de la controverse suscit"e en Bulgarie par l'organisation d'une conf"rence-exposition consacrée aux massacres de Batak en 1876, a interroger les usages politiques du passe en Bulgarie aujourd'hui. Dans l'historiographie bulgare, en effet, la répression par les pouvoirs ottomans du soulèvement intervenu a Batak a progressivement été constitué comme un épisode clef de la lutte pour l'independance. Ce faisant, des dynamiques locales, hétérogènes ont été peu a peu mises en coherence et articulees de facon a participer a la production d'un grand recit national. L'optique retenue par les organisateurs de la conference etait celle d'un effort de deconstruction des narrations nationales. Dans ces conditions, l'article s';emploie a reconstituer les dynamiques sociales et politiques ayant conduit a la cristallisation des lignes de clivage politiques intenses autour de ce colloque .
“İlk Türklerin Arkeolojisi: Türklerin Anayurt Sorununa Arkeolojik Bir Bakış”
Demir Çağı’nda Anadolu – İran – Turan / Anatolia – Iran – Turan in Iron Age, 2021
Turks are the privilaged others of the world history. With its nomadic origins, shepherds, hunting, nomadic lifestyles and especially warrior characters, it is a society that is feared but respected as well. Central Asia is the geography where Turks emerged and lived through their cultural and religious development phases. Today’s archaeological findings and historical sources indicate that the larger part of the process of Turkish history in this great geography belongs to the Pre-Islamic periods. The nomadic steppe human clusters, which we will call Proto-Turan and Proto-Turkic in 1000s BC, have a pre-Abrahamic Religions period dating back to 1000 AD. Contrary to the popular belief, the nomadic people are not without history. The fact that they did not use writing due to the socioeconomic order and the nature-based culture they live in does not mean that these people do not have a history. In light of the contemporary evidence and considering the Sakae (the Eastern Scythians) as the earliest ancestors of Turks (Proto-Turan, Proto-Turks), the emergence of the Turks with their cultural and racial character in the historical scene even without using the name “Turk” dated to 3000 years before. Sakae/(Eastern) Scythians – Huns – Gökturks – Oghuzs/Turkomans being the steppe nomads of the Central Asia, which later will be called Turkestan, are the Turkish societites which will establish a long cultural chain within the Turan cluster. This process which can be defined as Proto-Turk and started with Sakae who were distinguished by their steppe nomadic identity has continued largely unchanged with Huns and Gökturks. Oghuzs and Turkomans which consists the final link in the chain of the Turkish peoples are a turning point. The adoption of the sedentary life of some of the Oghuz/Turkoman tribes with their conversion to Islam who genetically carried the socio-economic properties of the Sakae and inherited their steppe culture and nomadic life-style is a breaking point to this chain that continued since around the 1000s BC. The common characteristics of the Sakae - Gökturks - Oghuz/Turkomans are that they were formed by the proto-feudal tribes. Examination of their history and culture, especially in terms of archaeology, means examining the Anatolian and Near Eastern Turks, who are their heirs. It is seen that the archaeological findings and written sources belonging to the Persians have not been sufficiently taken into account by those who are interested in pre-Islamic Turkish archaeology, culture and history. When the Persian findings about the Turks are examined, it is observed that the archeological, religious and cultural evidences show that the Turks, who started their historical period in the early 8th century AD, had a longterm “Protohistory” traced from the Near East and going back to the 10th century BC. Evidence showing that Turkish history, culture and language originated in the north and east of the Caspian Sea is increasing day by day on the basis of the (Eastern) Scythians/Sakas, who are understood to be the autochthonous people of this region. At the beginning of the 1st Millennium BC, Proto-Turkic communities and Proto-Turan clusters formed by the Saka, who were at the very beginning of their history, lived and wandered in a wide geography from the Caspian Sea to East Turkestan, from Southern Siberia to Northern India during the Iron Age. Kurgans dated to the Early Iron Age (10th-8th centuries BC), which we can define as the Proto-Saka Period, indicate that the Saka emerged in Western Turkestan, which covers the geography of today’s Western Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Northern Turkmenistan. While the archaeological findings of this geography indicate that the steppe culture began to evolve into warrior shepherds by taming the horse, it also shows that the real nomadic horse culture in Central Asia started with the Sakae. It can be traced on the basis of burial traditions that the Saka clusters spread from the East Caspian coast to the southeast towards the Tian Shan – Fergana in the Early, Middle and Late Iron Ages, and to the northeast on the Altay – Mongolia route. The primary evidence of Sakae being the first people that have the Proto-Turkic/Turan identity is that they had the tribal social structure. Both the Sakas and the Huns – Gökturks – Oghuzs/Turkomans, who followed this society in chronological order, were also nomadic societies with tribal organization. Tent is the smallest unit of the tribe. Tribe is the most basic part of society based on a lineage formed by blood ties and marriages. In this context, it can be said that the Sakae were the first society of the Turkish lineage in the geography that would later be called Turkestan. It can be understood from their physical appearance and anthropological features that the Sakae clusters living in the geography of Khorasan - Transoxiana in the east of the Caspian Sea are racially distant from Europe and Indo-European communities. There is no archaeological problem in expressing the obvious differences in appearance between the (Western) Scythians and the (Eastern) Scythians. Just as the works depicting (Western) Scythians were made in workshops with ancient Greek influence, the reliefs in Persepolis Apadana Palace have contributions from ancient Anatolian and ancient Greek artists. It will be the most important contribution of archaeology to the pre-Islamic Turkish archaeology and history to reveal the similarities of the Saka individuals of the Apadana Palace with the historical Turkic type, and the differences of the (Western) Scythians with the Proto-Turk clusters, and to carry out detailed style-critic studies within the framework of ordinary methods.
Cosmopolitanism or Constitutive Violence? The Creation of “Turkish” Heraklion
Contemporary discourses of coexistence as opposed to inter-ethnic strife are themselves historical products that need to be examined in the light of the violent ruptures that created them. I attempt here to present a case for the reexamination of the concept of community coexistence as both a sociological category and a historical process in the longue durée by taking stock of the political and social uses of the Ottoman past of the city of Heraklion, Crete. Whereas the word ‘Turcocretans’ is frequently used today as an accurate term to describe the Muslims of Crete, its genealogy is a product of the resolution of a religious, social and economic antagonism in favour of the Christian constituency of the island at the turn of the twentieth century. Rather than think of these ethnic categories as ‘really existing communities’, it may be more fruitful to approach them as agglomerates of historical, sociological categories, and socially produced political positions that refer to past events of dissolution and strife. I show here how the development of the heritage industry of Crete recreates this ethnicity term as a nostalgic indicator of the past of the city. By doing this, it occludes the existence of antagonisms and power relations on different levels, such as class, gender, race, in favour of a ‘major’ antagonism between nations.