Browsing by Subject "Transcaucasia"
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Item Open Access The Armenians and Tsarist Russia (1870-1906)(Bilkent University, 2009) Önol, OnurThe Armenians of Tsarist Russia was in a promising situation with their immense impact on economic, cultural and political affairs of Transcaucasia until the last two decades of the 19th century, which saw major changes as regards to their position in the Russian Empire. This thesis examines the dynamics of this difficult period for the Armenians by investigating the Tsarist policies, which produced a complex picture for the Russian Armenians. In addition, another important factor, the influence of the Russian revolutionary movement on the Armenian revolutionary groups on theoretical and organizational levels is explained. By 1880’s, the combination of these factors caused the emergence of an unfavourable Tsarist treatment of its Armenian subjects in line with the general Russification policy. In the specified period, Russian foreign policy interests about the Armenian Question made things even worse for the Russian Armenians. The study explores this downward trend, which was to be culminated in the Tsarist decision to confiscate the Armenian Church properties in 1903. The Armenian response to this, intermingled in the broader course of the 1905 Revolution, was an important dimension for the fates of not only the Russian Armenians but also the Ottoman Armenians.Item Open Access Baku expedition of 1917-1918 : a study of the Ottoman policy towards the Caucasus(Bilkent University, 2007) Murgul, YalçınThe Ottoman expedition to Baku has central importance in Caucasus between the Bolshevik Revolution and end of the WWI. Since the Ottoman expedition to Baku was the most concrete action towards domination of the area, it served as the main determinant in the formation of relations between the Great Powers and the Caucasian people fighting for their sovereignty in the period until October 1918. This thesis based on a multi-sided bibliography, attempts to study the Baku Operation of the CaucasusIslam Army commanded by Nuri Pasha in the course of the First World War in detail by analyzing both political and military processes and international dimensions, with a detailed picture of the whole process. By placing the Ottoman Operation at the centre, it aims to analyze the perception of both sides of the international struggle over Baku. iv Since the studies on the Committee of Union and Progress and Enver Pasha give special place to the issue of Pan-Turkism, this study argues that Ottoman Army’s Baku operation has a special place in Ottoman history as one of practical implementations of Pan-Turkist policies and it has an important role in the shaping of Azerbaijani National Movement in Transcaucasia. The thesis is divided into three parts. These are “The Ottoman State’s Caucasus Policy from the February Revolution to Batum Treaties”, “The General Situation in Transcaucasia before Baku Operation”, and “The CaucasusIslam Army’s Baku Operation”. In this context Germany, Soviet Russia and Britain’s strategies in the region will also be considered.Item Open Access Dunsterforce and Baku : a case study in British imperial(Bilkent University, 2012) İnceoğlu, CengizThis thesis will examine the actions of the British Empire in Transcaucasia during the latter half of the First World War, more specifically, after the collapse of Imperial Russia into a state of revolution in March of 1917. Western sources tend to defend the British Intervention in the Caucasus in 1917 as a necessity to what was then an ongoing military conflict, rather than, being based on imperialist initiatives. Simultaneously, Soviet historians denounce every action of the British in Transcaucasia as premeditated imperialist intervention aimed at annexation and colonization. The purpose here will be to examine the decision making process of the pertinent committees involved in formulating British policy towards Transcaucasia in 1917 and 1918. Through an analysis of the relevant material it is then possible to determine the impetus behind the formulation of General Dunsterville’s mission, “Dunsterforce”, and its subsequent intervention at Baku in August of 1918. This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part will focus on policy creation and the committees involved, as well as the importance of oil as a resource. The next three sections focus on the British perception of the intentions of their enemies in Transcaucasia based off of primary sources, starting with the Turks, then the Germans, and lastly the Bolsheviks. The last chapter focuses on the British response to the perceived actions of their enemies, characterized by the eventual approval granted to Dunsterforce to proceed to Baku and help in its defence. Determining to what extent the members of the Imperial War Cabinet and the Eastern Committee – the committee that generated policy for Transcaucasia – were influenced by imperialistic ambitions with regard to Transcaucasian policy is of cardinal importance here.Item Open Access Limestone round graves in Early Bronze Age central Anatolia-Isolated phenomenon or Caucasian-Middle Asian inheritance?(2008) Zimmermann, T.The article discusses an insufficiently appraised burial type from late Early Bronze Age Anatolia (second half 3rd millennium B.C.). Until recently, circular limestone graves with a central separation wall dividing the interior into two compartments were only attested to the Early Bronze Age levels of Kültepe, district of Kayseri. An intramural triple inhumation, buried in an identically constructed silo-type limestone grave at Kalinkaya, Alaca, district of Çorum, now widens their distribution. However, round domestic dwellings, considered an intrusive element in the Anatolian Early Bronze Age, are known from several Anatolian and Eastern Turkish sites. Furthermore, in neighboring Transcaucasia, round domestic dwellings at Kuro-Araxes sites display similar central separation walls, as attested at the funeral monuments of Kültepe and Kalinkaya. Therefore an initial use of these features as secular structures prior to their transformation into funeral monuments is proposed. Moreover, these phenomena are interpreted as a new facet in connection with the spread of »Transcaucasian« culture into Anatolia, as has been traditionally attested to by the distribution of »Transcaucasian« ceramic wares and metallurgical innovations as their main diagnostic features.Item Open Access Turkey's "new" foreign policy toward Eurasia(Taylor & Francis, 2011) Bilgin, P.; Bilgiç, A.Two geographers specializing in Turkey's international relations examine the reframing of foreign policy issues under the country's Justice and Development Party (JDP; also known by its Turkish acronym AKP), in power since 2002. After first locating the JDP within Turkey's current political landscape, the authors investigate how notions of civilizational geopolitics have led to a "new geographic imagination" under JDP that has influenced foreign policy thinking. The authors argue that JDP foreign policy exhibits some continuity with that of earlier governments in terms of activist policies toward Central Eurasia (comprising the Middle East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia), but are based on a new conceptual foundation that views Turkey not as part of Western civilization but as the emerging leader of its own "civilizational basin" (consisting of the former Ottoman territories plus adjoining regions inhabited by Muslim and Turkic peoples). They then explore the implications for Turkey's future relations with the Central Eurasian region (of which Turkey is assumed to be the leader) and countries of the West (viewed now as "neighbors" but no longer "one of us").