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<<>><<>><<>> TURKISTAN NEWLETTER ISSN: 1386-6265 <<>><<>><<>>
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<<>><<>><<>> Editor/Manager: Mehmet Tutuncu <<>><<>><<>><<>>>
<<>><<>><<>> Business: H. Savas, S.Bogut <<>><<>><<>><<>>
<<>><<>><<>> Features: I. Izmirli, Y. Puersuen <<>><<>><<>><<>>
<<>><<>><<>> Associate Editors: A. Baguirov, A. Eren, <<>><<>><<>><<>>
<<>><<>><<>> Technical: T. Ates, K. Cagiltay <<>><<>><<>><<>>
<<>><<>><<>> Editorial Board: Dr. T.Kocaoglu,Dr. M. Hubey <<>><<>><<>><<>>
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<<>><<>><<>><<>> Vol: 97-1:2 29 May 1997 <<>><<>><<>><<>>
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Uze kok tengri asra yagiz yer kilintukta ekin ara kisi ogli kilinmis. KT E1
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1) TRH News Summaries:
1.1) Kazakh Oil to be Transported via Turkey in 2003
1.2) Turkmenistan and Turkish Republic
1.3) Turkmen Passport for Zeybek
1.4) Turkish Soldiers for Abkhazia ? (Georgia)
1.5) General Dostum in Turkey
1.6) School books for Turkic Republics
1.7) Azerbaijani Parliament Leader Aleskerov in Ankara
2) Kyrgyzistan: Four Journalists Convicted -- RFE/RL
3) Call For Papers -- Eurasia Research Center -- Alan Fogelquist
4) Call for Help from Germany on Turkic Languages
5) Reports from London: H. Savas
5.1) Dostum has flown to Ankara
5.2) Bosnia and Ankara
5.3) Russia
5.4) Islam in Great Britain
6) I can't Believe This -- V. Seidov, an article from Hungary
7) Announcement- Prof. T. Asakawa, University of Washington
8) Cultural Note: Colours in Turkish Culture -- Elmas Kilic
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#1)
> TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review
>Date: 21 May 1997 15:29:42 -0400
1.1) KAZAKH OIL TO BE PRODUCED IN 2003
Following an agreement of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (KTK) signed
in Moscow last week, it is reported that the production of oil planned
to be transported via Turkey will begin in 2003. According to the
Vremya po Grinvic Newspaper published in English and Russian, Turkey
will not obstruct the the KTK project because of the need to keep the
Bosphorus straits clear of petrol tanker traffic. /Cumhuriyet/
1.2) SUCCESS OF TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN TURKMENISTAN
According to the Turkish Ambassador in the Turkmenistan capital of
Ashkabad, Turkish businessmen are carrying out a number of ambitious
projects in Turkmenistan and in this way are supporting the
development of the country. Turkish investors are operating in a wide
range of sectors such as the textile, construction, and tourism
sectors. Appreciating the value of Turkish support, Turkmenistan
President Saparmurat Niyazov has appointed many Turkish businessmen to
key posts in the government. /Cumhuriyet/
1.3) TURKMEN PASSPORT FOR ZEYBEK
State Minister Namik Kemal Zeybek has been presented with a
Turkmenistan passport. Zeybek will be able to benefit from all the
rights possessed by Turkmen citizens. After completing his contacts
in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Zeybek arrived in Kazakhstan
yesterday. He attended the opening ceremonies of the Hodja Ahmet
Yesevi University. Zeybek, who had the Turkmen Koroglu epic
translated into Turkmen with the Latin alphabet, was presented with an
"International Award" by Turkmen Head of State Turkmenbasi last
Monday. /Hurriyet/
1.4) TURKISH SOLDIERS IN ABHAZIA
The Russian Sevodnia newspaper reported that Georgian officials have
suggested the establishment of a Black Sea Peace Force with the
participation of Turkey that would be deployed in hot spots in the
region. According to the paper, the proposal was discussed during a
recent visit to Georgia of a General Staff delegation headed by
General Cetin Dogan. The proposal plays a special importance in the
light of the fact that the mandate of Russian troops in Abhazia
expires on July 31. /Milliyet/
1.5) SCHOOL BOOKS FOR TURKIC REPUBLICS
Turkey will print school books for the Turkish speaking republics in
the Latin alphabet, said State Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference with Education Minister Mehmet Saglam,
Gul said that as a first step, 29 new school books would be printed
and sent to Turkmenistan. Three million copies at a cost of 300
billion TL will kick-off the special education programme. The
programme is being paid for with special funds from the Prime
Ministry. /All papers/
1.6) GENERAL DOSTUM
General Abdul Rashid Dostum, Uzbek warlord fighting against the purist
Talaban movement having established control over 90 percent of
Afghanistan territory, arrived on Sunday in the Turkish capital
Ankara.
Dostum's northern capital of Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday appeared to be
under the control of rival ethnic Uzbek fighters who had until last
week been part of an alliance opposing the purist Talaban movement.
The advance by the Talaban ends an eight-month standoff between the
Islamic movement and a fragile coalition linking Dostum with former
Afghan government forces.
Dostum who arrived in Ankara together with his familiy, claims that he
came here because he had some health problems and adds that he is
determined to continue his struggle against the Talaban.
DOSTUM SEEKS SUPPORT
General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who was ousted from northern
Afghanistan by Islamic Taleban fighters and fled to Turkey, has not
applied for asylum, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said
on Monday at his weekly press conference. Akbel said: "He is welcome
in Turkey. The length of his stay in Turkey depends on his own wishes."
Akbel at his press conference also added that the evacuation of 44
Turks in Afghanistan included personnel from the Turkish Consulate in
Mezar-i Sharif, and that they were in good health. He noted that Turkey
had no official contact with Afghanistan.
Dostum also pointed out that his request to Turkey was to take the
lead in bringing war the to an end in Afghanistan.
/Milliyet/Cumhuriyet/Hurriyet/
1.7) AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT LEADER VISITS ANKARA
Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov arrived in Ankara
on Monday for a five-day visit as an official guest of his Turkish
counterpart, Mustafa Kalemli. Aleskerov will also meet with
representatives of several Turkish politicai party leaders, the Anatolia
news agency reported.
#2) KYRGYZSTAN: FOUR JOURNALISTS CONVICTED FOR CRITICIZING STATE COMPANY
Four journalists from the weekly Kyrgyz newspaper "Res Publica" were convicted
in a district court in Bishkek last week. Two of them, Chief Editor Zamira
Sydykova and correspondent Aleksandr Alyanchikov, were sentenced to 18 months
imprisonment. They authored two articles - one in 1993, the other in 1996 -
harshly criticizing the activity of Kyrgyzaltyn, the state gold company, and
its president Dastan Sarygulov.
Another two journalists, editors Marina Sivasheva and Bektash Shamshiev, were
barred from engaging in journalism for 18 months in a decision by the same
court, though they were not the authors of the articles. All four journalists
were accused of insulting and libeling Sarygulov in four articles, published
between 1993-1996. The author of the two other articles was Yuri Glushkin, a
former employee of Kyrgyzaltyn, who emigrated to Israel in 1996. He was not
sued by Sarygulov. Bektash Shamshiev translated Alyanchikov's article from
Russian into Kyrgyz, and Marina Sivasheva edited the copy.
Sarygulov came to court to demand its support for him as a manager of a state
company. The journalists asked judge, Kuban Kyrgyzbayev, to invite to the
trial former members of the parliamentary commission on gold issues, who
investigated the situation in the gold industry in 1993-1994. The judge
rejected this proposal. The journalists asked that linguistic specialists
be invited to the trial to determine whether the words used in the articles
could be considered defamatory. This request was also denied.
The journalists' lawyers, Yuri Maksimov and SagynbAY Ashyrbekov, said the
articles were neither personally insulting, nor libelous, and that the trial
was politically motivated. The public defender for the journalists, Ramazan
Dyryldayev, said the trial, and other recent trials in Kyrgyzstan, were part
of a Government campaign against independent journalists and press freedom.
Dyryldayev is Chairman of the Human Rights committee of Kyrgyzstan, a former
member of Parliament, and a former member of the parliamentarian commission
on gold issues.
This was the third trial against opposition journalists in Bishkek this year.
In February, the opposition "Kriminal" paper was closed. After the first
edition, containing several articles with harsh criticism of the
Government, the
Justice Ministry sent a letter to the Uchkun state publishing house,
demanding it stop printing the paper. The Parliamentary Commission on Media
and Information denounced the action of the Ministry as illegal. The Justic
Ministry then sued the paper. The
paper was accused of insulting several members of the
Government by printing unflattering nicknames commonly used by citizens. But
the plaintiff was the Justice Ministry, not these members of Government.
Another trial against an opposition journalist is under way in Bishkek. A
correspondent with the same "Res Publica" weekly, Yrysbek Omurzakov, was
accused of insulting and libeling a Bishkek factory director. Omurzakov has
been in detention since March.
This is not the first time in the courtroom for some of these journalists. In
1996, Omurzakov was accused of insulting President Askar Akayev and given a
two-year suspended sentence. Zamira Sydykova, Chief Editor of "Res Publica,"
also was accused of insulting President Akayev and given an 18-month suspended
sentence.
Amnesty International this month named all four journalists in this most
recent trial (Zamira Sydykova, Aleksandr Alyanchikov, Bektash Shamshiev and
Marina Sivasheva) as Prisoners of Conscience.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights
Watch/Helsinki and Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers have sent several
letters to President Akayev, asking him to ensure Kyrgyzstan's judicial system
conforms with democratic standards - but there has been no response.
Presidential Press Secretary, Kanybek Imanaliev, told RFE/RL's correspondent
in Bishkek last week that Akayev has no time to pay attention to such letters.
The New York-based Freedom House in its report released May 3, International
Day of Press Freedom, excluded Kyrgyzstan from the group of "partly-free"
countries, and placed it in the group of "not free." Previously, Kyrgyzstan
was the only Central Asian state in the "partly-free" group.
Narynbek Idinov and Bruce Pannier
27 May 1997
(c) 1997 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
----------------------------------------------
#3)
>From: Eurasia Research Center <eurasia@earthlink.net>
>Subject: Questions About the Talib Marauders
>
>The Talibs marauders are likelly to provoke a bloody hate filled ethnic
>guerrilla war throughout northern and central Afghanistan. They are unlikely
>to be able to govern the country. They are bad news for Afghanistan and for
>Central Asia. They would never have gotten as far as they have without
>military training and millions of petrol dollars funneled into them through
>Pakistan. Why didn't the United States government understand the disasterous
>consequences of allowing the Pakistani military and intellingence leaders to
>have their way in Afghanistan. Why didn't the US give unequivical support to
>the United Nations sponsored peace efforts to bring about a negotiated
>peace, the establishment of an interim government based on power sharing. It
>should have been obvious to those in the State Department, unless they were
>listening to the self-styled "Zahir Shah" lobby of Pashtoon chauvinists,
>that Pakistan was sabbotaging all peace efforts at every step of the way.
>The US policy of allowing Pakistan to do what it pleases has done nothing to
>stop either the growth of opium production in Afghanistan nor the use of
>Afghan territory as a safe haven for terrorists like Osama Bin Ladin, whom
>the Talibs have been protecting. Anyone in the State Department who thought
>the Talibs would bring anything but harm to Afghanistan was deceiving
himself.
>
>Here are some questions about the Talibs.
>
>If anyone on this list can write a well documented piece on the Talibs, I
>would be interested in reviewing it and publishing it on the ERC web site. I
>would especially be interested in the piece if you have been able to uncover
>little known details about the social, tribal, sub-tribal, or clan origins
>of the Talib leadership and their followers, biographical material on the
>leaders, details the Talibs military organization, their sources of
>finnancing and methods of divide and conquer, an analysis of the Talib
>political ideology based on primary sources, details on brutality and human
>rights abuses of the Talibs, details on factional differences within the
>Talib movement, documented details on the Talibs relationship to the
>Pakistani Interior Ministry, the Jama'at ul-Ulama of Pakistan, the ISI,
>Saudi Arabia, Delta Oil, and UNOCAL, their relationship to the Pashtun
>nationalist wing of Zahir Shah supporters in the United States, and
>relationship to former Khalqi military officers. What support if any have
>the Talibs received from any agency or agencies of the United States
>government? A big question is where did the Talibs get all that money to
>bribe local notables and war lords. Who trained the Talib pilots? Did the
>Talibs learn to fly war planes in the madrasa of Northwest Frontier
>Province? What is the relationship of the Talibs to Pashtun tribal and
>sub-tribal leaderships? How many of the Talib core army members were born in
>Pakistan? Pakistani officers have been observed by humanitarian aid workers
>on many occasions accompanying Talib military formations. What have been the
>changes in the Talib relationship with Pakistan since Nawaz Sharif defeated
>Benazir Bhutto in the last elections. Will a Pakistani governor be in charge
>of Mazar-i Sharif? Any or some of these subjects would make the basis of a
>good factual expose on the Talib movement.
>
>Best Wishes,
>
>Alan Fogelquist
>Eurasia Research Center
-----------------------------------------------------
#4
[Are there institutions with sound-recordings of lessm known Turkic
languages as decribed below, I would appreciate if some of our readers can
give information about this]
>Sender: lenhart@stud.uni-frankfurt.de
>Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 15:43:05 +0200
>From: Juergen Lenhart <lenhart@stud.uni-frankfurt.de>
>Organization: Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet, Frankfurt, Germany
>To: sota@euronet.nl
>Subject: General enquiry
>
>Dear Sirs,
>
>
>I am a student of phonetics and comparative linguistics in Frankfurt,
>Germany. I am particularly interested in the languages of the ethnic
>minorities of the former Soviet Union.
>Are there at your archive any recordings of the "minor" Turkic languages
>such as Khakass, Tofalar, Chulym, and others? If not, do you know and
>could you tell me where I could find such material? Is there any
>research institute in Turkey, e.g., where such recordings are stored?
>Please be so kind and answer me in any case, even if you cannot be of
>any help to me - I am very grateful for any help.
>
>Yours sincerely
>
>Juergen Lenhart
---------------------------------------------------------
#5)
London reporting: -- H. Savas
5.1) General Dostum has flown to Turkey, following the fall of his
stronghold, Mazar-i-Serif to Taleban fighters. His downfall came as a
result of a rebellion in his army's ranks and defection of two air
force pilots to Kabul (20% of his air force).
He had been unable to hold on to power after depletion of his forces.
Whilst changing sides in the current struggle is no surprise to Afghan
watchers, as it seems to be the norm rather than the exception, the
swiftness of the end for Dostum is definitely an unexpected conclusion
to the Afghan saga.
It is not known whether General Dostum will ask for political asylum
in Turkey, his loyal backer since the early days. In his own
admission he points to health oriented visit. Nevertheless, it is widely
expected that he will stay in Turkey and may even draw out a new
strategy for his struggle with Taleban. It is ofcourse noteworthy to
mention that he choose Turkey instead of Uzbekistan. There may be a
good reason for his choice, as any neighbourly state of Afghanistan
may not wish to give Taleban the impression that they are harbouring
the state enemy no.1
One wonders, who might be the likely target for Taleban, the
proverbial unstoppable flywheel. I say, watch out Tadjhikstan!
5.2) Things are not looking up in Bosnia. Not a day goes by without some
one making a prediction for the date of the next war. It looks like
the foreign forces currently preventing such a break out of hostilities
have to come up with novel ideas to help the communities. Giving children
chocolate bars and sweets seems to have worked so far, but now the adults
queue up.
Naturally no sweets for the mums and dads, but helping refugees to
get back home, repairing roads and bridges, telephone lines and an
odd house here and there (and everywhere). NATO forces have new
instructions to help out, where possible and at least carry favours
for the locals until their mandate runs out in middle of 1988. It
looks like the order came from highplaces, from Mrs. Madeleine
Albright.
With NATO expansion in mind, this could be an exersice in winning
hearts and minds of the population. Recently, some East Europeans
openly declared their doubts on NATO coming to their country. A
dismayed Czech woman suggested that her country will end up paying
through the nose for Western weapons, and she said they have no
money; but liberation at no cost sounds like music to her ears.
Well, one remembers the hectic days of bringing down the Berlin Wall,
dismantling relics of the cold war and the excitement of freedom in
the air. It is highly probable that this same lady was in the same
crowd celebrating the end of the cold war and liberation of her
country. Did she not consider then the cost of her liberation?
Her reaction reminds me of a dear friend in Kazakstan, who said we want
Russia out and Mercedes in, but we dont want to pay for either.
5.3) Russians started to run before learning to walk. Why you may ask..
Not so far away from Pushkin Square, group of children are thought
manners by their teacher. So what's so strange about that?? well,
the children belong to now defunct Russian Imperial household. These
young Russian aristocrats are thought the imperial manners, right
down to bringing mint crystals to the opera, incase they start
coughing or sneezing, dance the polka, the difference between waltz
and the vodka, how not to yawn etc etc. The star attraction for the
Russian nobility is the 16 year old Grand Duke Romanov who claims the
throne.
Here comes the complication... if he crowns himself, what shall
happen to Yeltsin's crown? Could Yeltsin sack few more ministers to
make room for His Highness the Duke Romanov, the something ??
5.4) if you went to a football match in Europe and you were confronted
with score board results like 2000-0 or 30-0 what will you think?
No doubt you will wonder whether you are in Europe, or in a football
match not the horse racing, or in a just society... Well you do not
have to go far from the shores of Her Majesty's Britannic Isles.
There are 2000 Roman Catholic religious schools to 0 Muslim schools,
2000 Protestant religious schools to 0 Muslim schools and 30 Jewish
schools to 0 Muslim schools. Well ofcourse there are thousands of
state schools of all sorts and all supported with government money. Whilst
there are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and thousands of ordinary schools all
supported by public funds, none Muslim government supported schools
exists in Great Britannia today!!! hmmmm
You may remember Yusuf Islam, alias Cat Stevens of famed pop stardom,
he ran an Islamic primary school in London for many years without any
government support and no doubt he will be the first to benefit from
change of heart. He may have started singing out loud already.. so read on
Here comes the good news... Recent Labour victories in the polls allowed
Muslims to be granted their own schools, all to be paid by the government.
Hats in the air, as an estimated 2 million Muslim population, with 400,000
of them at school age, can no longer be seen as a threat to society,
but made a productive part of the mosaic of British nationhood.. It is
a shame that some of the Muslim countries can not be so accomodating
towards those who may similarly wish to educate themselves.
Nothing could be more positive than to consider a large part of any
society a just part of that society. Give all equal educational
opportunities to stop opportunists destroying our daily lives, our
governments, our history. Thank you to Jack Straw, the British Home
Secretary.
I would like to add that prominent Muslim figures from all over
Britain met Mr.Straw just before the election, in London, and his
acceptance of injustice to British Muslims came out loud and clear.
He gave us all the impression that religion was not for politicking.
(Turkey, Uzbekistan, Dagestan, Chechnya take note)
--------------------------------------------------------------
#6)
>From: "Vugar Seidov" <seidovv@sirius.ceu.hu>
>Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 01:26:23 +100
>Subject: I can't believe in this!!!
>Reply-to: seidovv@sirius.ceu.hu
>Priority: normal
>
>Dear friends,
>
>I am now writing my final thesis, and I am trying to compare
>nationalism in the Baltics and Transcaucasia. Accidentally, I found
>a book "Transcaucasia, Nationalism, and Social Change. Essays in the
>History of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia" edited by Ronald Grigor
>Suny (he is originally Armenian from Tiflis). The book is
>dedicated to someone called Mark Saroyan and is published in 1996 by
>the University of Michigan Press. Out of 20 contributors 8 are
>Armenians. No Azeri author is mentioned as a contributor, though
>among the 20 one can see the name of Tadeusz Swietochowski.
>
>Actually, I haven't read the book so far, but I scanned some chapters.
>One of the first impressions from a chapter written by the
>ethnically Armenian editor is that he deliberately avoids the use of the
>notion of "genocide" and prefers to speak about the "massacres and
>deportations". On p.389 he says: "One hundred years earlier Erevan
>had had a Muslim majority; Tbilisi and Baku had been largely Russian
>and Armenian cities in the early years of Soviet rule."
>
>George A. Bournoutian in the chapter "The Ethnic Composition and the
>Socio-Economic Condition of Eastern Armenia in the First Half of the
>Nineteenth Century" argues (big quotation):
>
>[p.69] By the 18th century, Eastern Armenia was composed of the provinces
>or khanates (which were subdivided into mahals or districts) of Erevan
>and Nakhichevan, to which the region of Ordubad was added at the end
>of the century. the remaining fringes of Eastern Armenia became part
>of the Khanates of Ganje and Karabagh, Persian Azerbaijan, and the
>Kingdom of Georgia. In the 18th century as well, a new force -
>Russia - appeared in the area, which after a century of diplomatic
>and military efforts succeeded in annexing all of Transcaucasia and,
>in 1828, in becoming the new ruler of Eastern Armenia, thereafter
>known as Russian or Transcaucasian Armenia.
>
>The major source of the population of Eastern Armenia in the 19th
>century is the survey (Kameral'noe Opisanie) conducted from 1829-1832
>by the Russian government. According to that survey the population
>consisted of Muslims and Christians [...]
>
>[p.70] According to the Kameral'noe Opisanie, the settled and
>semi-settled Muslim population numbered more than 74,000 persons.
>this figure, however, does not account for those settled and
>semi-settled Muslims who left the area after the Persian defeat.
>Taking advantage of Articles XII, XIII, and XV of the Torkmanchay
>Treaty, members of the Persian ruling hierarchy [...] almost in toto
>left Eastern Armenia for Persia proper (the full text of that treaty
>is in J.C.Hurewitz "Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A
>Documentary Record, 1535-1914", Princeton, 1956, pp.96-102.).
>Furthermore, a number of Persian and Turkic soldiers must have
>perished in the Russo-Persian wars. It can be estimated that close
>to 20,000 Persians and Turks left the area or were killed in the
>conflict. It can be deduced, therefore, that the settled and
>semi-settled Muslim population of Eastern Armenia, prior to the
>Russian conquest, approached some 93,000 persons. On the number of
>Kurds, the Russian figures list
>[p.72] over 10,000 inhabitants of various
>tribes (Shopen, Istoricheskii pamiatnik sostoianiia Armianskoi
>Oblasti v epokhu eia prisoedineniia k Rossiiskoi imperii,
>St.Persburg, 1852, p.541), but add, however, that some
>15,000 had emigrated following the Russian conquest (Ibid), making
>the total pre-war Kurdish population over 25,000 nomads. The entire
>Muslim population of Eastern Armenia before the Russian annexation
>was, therefore, roughly over 117,000 people. of whom some 35,000 were
>not present after the Russian takeover. One half of the settled
>Muslims formed the main sector of the agricultural base of the
>province (Armenians and semi-settled Muslims also formed a sector of
>the agricultural base but were not as numerous as this group), while
>the remaining settled Muslims functioned as administrators and
>military personnel. Scattered in their small villages, the settled
>Muslims consisted primarily of the Turkic groups of Bayat, Kangarlu,
>Aq-Qoyunlu, Qara-qoyunlu, Ayrumlu, Qajar, and the Turkified Kazakhs,
>who. together with other Turkish-speaking and Mongol nomads, had
>settled during the westward movement and had become peasants.
>
>[p.77] There are no figures on the number of Armenian in the Persian
>sources and thus once again the historian has to rely on the
>Kameral'noe Opisanie. The figures in the survey on the number of
>Armenians in the territory present a minor problem. The totals
>include the many thousands of Armenians who immigrated to Russian
>Armenia from Persia and the Ottoman Empire following the
>Russo-Persian and Russo-Turkish wars of 1826-1829 [...] A number of
>Armenian historians, quoting the post-1830 figures, have incorrectly
>estimated the number of Armenians in Eastern Armenia in Persian times
>to have been between 30 and 50 percent of the total population
>(H.Tumanian for example makes this error in his article "Hayastani
>nakha-Sovetakan shrdjani azgabnakchutiune", 4, 1965, p.50). In
>reality - based on the official figures of the Russian survey
>[p.78] following the conquest - the Armenians barely formed 20
>percent of the population of Eastern Armenia, while the Muslims
>exceeded 80 percent. In any case, the Armenian population at no time
>prior to the Russian takeover formed a majority in Eastern Armenia.
>In fact, although the Kameral'noe Opisanie indicates the existence of
>an Armenian majority in a few mahals of Eastern Armenia, this is only
>after the emigration of over 35,000 Muslims from the region; thus
>there is no concrete evidence of there being an Armenian majority in
>any of the districts the Persian
>[p.79] administration. Karbi-basar Mahal, with the Armenian
>ecclesiastical center of Uch-kilisa (Etchmiadzin), seems to have been
>the only district where there might have been an Armenian majority
>(Shopen, op.cit., pp.635-638). By 1832, however, with the departure
>of the thousands of Muslims and the arrival of some 57,000 Armenians
>from Persia and Ottoman territories, the Christian population rose
>considerably and numerically matched Muslim. But it was only after
>the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1855-1856 and 1877-1878, which brought more
>Armenians from the Ottoman Empire - and the eventual emigration of
>more Muslims, that the Armenians established
>[p.80] a solid majority in the region. Even then, and up to the 20th
>century, the city of Erevan had a Muslim majority (T.Kh.Hakobian,
>Erevani patmutiune, 1801-1879, Erevan, 1959, pp.523-525)
>[p.86] Although, both Muslims and Armenians suffered under abrupt
>change of policy, the Armenians at least managed to derive some
>benefits from the change of government. The arrival of some 45,000
>Armenian immigrants from Persia and the Ottoman Empire not only
>brought large numbers of skilled professionals and domestic animals
>to the Armenian communities, but for the first time in over the centuries
>made possible an Armenian majority - although slight at first - in a
>part of the homeland. The emigration of Muslims also allowed the
>Armenians to gain more arable land and grazing areas. [...] Eastern
>Armenia slowly began to acquire and Armenian character. Erevan,
>however, lost its strategic importance, became a backwater, and began
>to lose its most able citizens to new Armenian centers in Tiflis and
>Baku and to the large cities of Russia. [...] Historical changes
>once agin made Eastern Armenia a place of refuge and hope. The
>massacres of the Armenians in Turkey and the social and national
>pressure on Armenians in Transcaucasia in the first quarter of the
>20th century might well have annihilated the Armenians totally but
>for the concentration of Armenians in Eastern Armenia who made an
>eventual renascence possible (For a complete narrative of that period
>see R.G.Hovannisian, Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918,
>{Berkley, 1967}, and The Republic of Armenia {Berkley, 1971}).
--------------------------------------
#7)
1998-99 PROGRAM IN CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
The University of Washington's Project for Critical Asian Studies is an
interdisciplinary initiative to promote contemporary theoretical work
and innovative research. The project is immediately concerned with the
questions of how "Asia" as an object of study is being reconfigured
in the processes of late twentieth-century economic and cultural
transformation
and what role the humanities ought to play in shaping our thinking about
these changes.
We invite project proposals that promise to explore one or more
of the following areas: 1) the political economy of
the internationalization of scholarship on Asia, 2) contemporary
social formations now racializing, ethnicizing and gendering
Asian-North American-Asian social and cultural circuits 3) troubled
boundaries between Asian Studies and Asian American studies or broadly
construed consideration of the question of internationalizing academic
disciplines, and 4) projects that either demonstrate a commitment to
activism or look at theories of the ethics and politics of building
productive relationships among academic scholars and community interests
(e.g. ethnicized American communities, Asian communities in diaspora
outside the United States, refugee and migrant communities and so on).
Fellows for the 1997-98 academic year are Dr. Shengmei Ma (Michigan
State University) whose project explores how the orientalism of the
dominant, racially marked US popular culture strongly conditions
reactive types of ethnic subjectivity in Asian American literatures.
Dr. Venkat Rao (Central Institute for English and Foreign Languages,
Hyderabad, India) is concerned to trace the history and epistemic
roots of area studies of India in the US as a means of recasting both
Indic studies in India and contemporary South Asian studies in the
US.
Eligible applicants will have completed the Ph.D. prior to the beginning
of the fellowship period (September 15, 1998). Proposals by applicants
who do not have a doctoral degree will be considered if they can
demonstrate significant experience in community involvement in accord
with the fourth program area defined above. The fellowship is open to all
levels of post-doctoral scholarship and is by no means limited to East
Asia. Scholars and activists working in Central, South and Southeast Asia
are also encouraged to apply.
Proposals which seek to explore the interdisciplinary connections across
the humanities and social sciences are also encouraged. The Project for
Critical Asian Studies is aimed at enriching and expanding pedagogy and
graduate scholarship at the University of Washington and one criteria of
evaluation will be the degree to which proposals fit the curricular needs
of the campus.
Fellows will be in residence for one academic year of three quarters and
will teach one graduate seminar funded separately by the University of
Washington. In addition, fellows will lead a quarter-long bi-weekly
Seminar open to faculty and graduate students. The seminar is intended to
facilitate intellectual exchanges between the project fellows and the
resident faculty with the object of generating theoretical resources and
substantive research to build a foundation for Critical Asian Studies at
the University of Washington and elsewhere. The objectives of the
seminar are: to help students incorporate cultural critique into their
course of study, to offer faculty an opportunity to explore theoretical
approaches outside international studies as it is currently institutionalized,
to rethink Asian Studies at the level of the undergraduate curriculum,
and to produce innovative scholarship for publication.
Fellows will receive a basic stipend according to seniority ranging
from $25,000 to $40,000 (including the stipend for the graduate
seminar) plus up to $5,000 to cover costs of relocation, health and
other benefits.
Senior scholars are welcome to seek supplementary support from their
home institutions (e.g. fellowships may be combined with sabbatical leave) or
from other institutional funding.
Application deadline: January 15, 1998. Contact: Ann Anagnost and
Tani Barlow, Project for Critical Asian Studies, The Univ. of Washington,
Center for the Humanities, Lewis Annex II, Box 353910, Seattle, WA
98195-3910, U.S.A. (e-mail: <critas@u.washington.edu>).
------------------------------------------
#8
Colours in Turkish Culture
by Elmas Kilic
Colours may be defined as the aspect of the appearance of objects
and light sources perceived by the human eye. Since colours evolve
once this relationship is set up, one cannot ignore the powers
affecting, nourishing, developing and enriching the psychology of
the individual. Colours are the symbols of a variety of feelings
and thoughts. Colours, as being symbols, have been considered to
be components connecting those sharing meaning and values of
feelings and thoughts behind them. Colours in particular have
gained meanings throughout history between communities sharing
common values which are the symbols of historical and cultural
unity.
Scientific research has revealed that during the years of Turkish
history, colours which stem from the common values of the people
were used as national and spiritual symbols.
In the course of various phases of Turkish history, colours were
used to express certain things, each being assigned a different
colour.
Yellow was the symbol for sovereignty and the centre of the earth;
white the symbol of the west, (the main direction for Turks), red
the symbol of the guiding spirit, God, independence, freedom and
the south, while blue symbolized the east, vivacity, freshness and
youth and black the north.
Colours, particularly yellow, red and blue form special compositions
when used together. These compositions of colours are meaningful symbols
emanating from the depths of Turkish history.
They have been used by kings and sovereigns, symbolizing the
military forces, and the state. The colours which impart a certain
quality to life by their richness, have been used as the symbol of
national unity and togetherness strengthened by our history and
culture and the symbol of our devotion, trust and respect for the
state and the nation. In fact, they continue to be used as such.
************************************************
Mehmet Tutuncu
(SOTA) Research centre for Turkestan, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Caucasus and Siberia
P.o. box 9642
2003 LP Haarlem
The Netherlands
e-mail: <mtutuncu@turkiye.net> or <sota@euronet.nl>
Turkish World Home Page:<http://www.turkiye.net/sota/sota.html>
Crimean Tatars Home-Page: <http://www.euronet.nl/users/sota/krimtatar.html>
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