B O O K REVIEVVS*
Üner Kırdar, ed., Change: Threat or Opportunity? 5 vols., New York, United N a t i o n s P u b l i c a t i o n s , 1992, 335+348+ 161+144+206 pp.; and Leonard Silk, eds., A World Fit for People, New York, New York University Press, 1994, 481 pp. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has a development study branch, established in 1981 to promote greater understanding of the issues concerning grovvth and technical cooperation and to generate new ideas. That branch is called the UNDP Development Study Program, and its current director is a Turk, Üner Kırdar, who has a background of scholarship and practical diplomacy. He is the editör of the five-volume U.N. publication entitled Change: Threat or Opportunity? and also shared editorship vvith Leonard Silk in the preparation of A World Fit for People.
Kırdar is a graduate of the Faculty of Lavv (Turkey) and the University of Cambridge (Ph. D.) and had previously held senior positions in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He collected about eighty papers to bring out fıve books in a series - ali primary reference works on the future of our planet. As the former U.N. Secretary-General J.P. de Cuellar had noted vvhile departing, "vve face today a vvorld of almost infınite promise and also of potentially vast dangers." On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of multilateral technical cooperation, the UNDP Development Study Program
had covened in Antalya, Turkey, in late 1990 a round-table meeting to discuss in five working groups the changing world order and the future of the earth in terms of politics, economy, sociology, markets and ecology. About 130 participants from 34 counries had then brought a wealth of knovvledge, wisdom and vision. The five volumes constitute a collection of their written contributions. The Antalya proceedings were published under the general heading of Change: Threat or Opportunity?
The second Round Table was held in Bucharest, Rumania (1992). The single volume that emerged from it reflects different views expressed at the conference on the many aspects of ongoing systemic changes. The editors thought that they offered specific proposals for making this "a world fit for people" - an allusion to Lloyd George's speech at the end of the First World War. Leonard Silk, one of the editors of that volume, is a Senior Research Fellow of the Ralph Bunche Institute on the United Nations at the Graduate School of the City University of New York.
The world is confronted vvith global issues, ranging from food, employment and health to education, energy and ecology. The rate of grovvth of the problems connected vvith these topics is transcending the ability of individual states to solve them. They are global and cali for concerted actions. We cannot operate through systems vvhich novv became obsolete in our shrinking vvorld. There are 5 billion people today, 100 million being added every year. We use more food, more energy, more ravv materials. We also need about a billion nevv jobs vvhile millions continue to live in poverty.
The five volumes mostly make recommendations for coming to grips vvith the challenge of changes. In respect to political changes, the close linkage betvveen the political and economic security of the vvorld is inescapably noted. But a point of crucial importance is not to equate the interest of ali vvith the interest of the only superpovver left, i.e.v the United States, vvhich is inclined to use ali avenues, including the United Nations, for its ovvn purposes. Further, it is certainly in the interest of both the producers and consumers to ensure stability in markets, but providcd the balance is not against the former as it has historically been.
The failure of the Eastern European models do not a fortiori prove the success of the competing models. There is no universal prescription for non-stop successful development. Moreover, everyone agrees that vve need better governance, vvhich means less authoritarianism and less military expenditure, but this should not come to mean that governments friendly to us may be more authoritarian and militaristic. There is certainly a connection betvveen democracy and human rights, but also betvveen development and equality. The latter also implies that the concept of permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council should be challenged.
1982-1991] BOOK R E V E S 167 In respect to economic change, there is a new consensus on the need for less ideological and more pragmatic policies. An important question is vvhether people can be at the center of development efforts if one insists that the only route for development is market economy. It can stand the test of time if it eradicates poverty and narrows the gap between the haves and the have-nots, as individuals and as nations. Further, what will be the yardstick for development aid? Simple need or a revvard for particular political acts? But did not the United States manage to cut off the $70 million to Yemen, on account of the latter's negative vote in the Security Council? The developing countries expect "clean technologies" and their debt problem to be solved.
In terms of changes in markets and monetary systems, the need for increased capital flow from industialized to developing countries is frequently accentuated. One requisite for bridging the gap is to improve the ability to attract investment and to understand that productive manpovver is more important than natural resources in inviting foreign capital. But the adjustment programs of international organizations such as the IMF should be more responsive to the disadvantaged sections of the world society.
As far as the rapid demographic and cultural changes are concerned, the consensus is that there is need for urgent action in the interconnected areas of population, youth and employment; and profound developments in informatics, communications, genetics and biotechnology require a new framework for our thinking. It is taken for granted that developing countries must make better use of the new technology to elevate the capacities of their people.
Ecological changes are of key importance to the future of mankind. We have to set an agenda for action to prevent further degradation of the environment. AH countries must design energy-efficient economic development. industrial countries especially must undertake effective action to limit the emission of gases. Both industrialized and developing countries need to integrate environmental and ecological dimensions in planning. To alert the public to the dire consequences of environmental degradation, more effort must be put on long-term commitment. These five volumes are informative, thought-provoking and challenging. They should be in the bedside bookshelf of ali those \vorking in the fields of politics, economics, markets, culture and ecology.
A World Fit for People examines what impact the many dramatic worldwide changes are having on the lives of the citizens of the world. It is dedicated to the memory of three contributors, G. Anhur Brovvn, Sabura Okita and (Turkey's former President) Turgut özal, ali of whom passed avvay during the printing period.
In terms of search for political reconstruction, the editors note that the world remains a dangerous place, in spite of exciting promises. Not only the proliferation of both conventional and nuclear vveapons continues, but racism, nationalism and religious and ethnic antagonisms have become the most destructive forces against peace and security, within countries and between states. Disease, famine, drug trafficking and erime aggravate oppression by the powerful and spread despair among the poor. Population growth and economic stagnation are producing millions of new refugees. Aggressive nationalistic movements and hostilities of various kinds provoke armed conflicts, territorial expansion and even genocide. As the cases of Bosnia and Rwanda amply show, innocent people are killed as part of comprehensive policy of "ethnic eleansing". Part I of the book tries to find answers to questions such as: What is the nature of the nevv vvorld? What shape vvill the transition from one vvorld to another take? What relationship exists betvveen political freedom and economic efficiency? What kind of economy vvould be best for the East and the South? What models may be developed from the lessons of experience?
Part II deals vvith economic development. The editors maintain that the problems had been "oversimplified" vvhen many political leaders thought, at the beginning of the 1980s, that they had discovered a new formula for rapid economic progress - "the magic of the market." The rates of economic grovvth vvere slovv or negative, unemployment and proteetionist measures rising. People expected grovvth "vvith a human face." Some of the developing countries had created "dual economies", vvith a small area becoming rather prosperous and the rest of the country left far behind. The freedom that capital enjoys does not exist for labour. While both governments and markets vvere manipulated by vested interests, regionalization is limited to certain areas such as North America. The borrovving countries cannot have access to international mending unless they accept certain "rules". The papers in Part II of the book explore the follovving questions: Can better institutional devices provide human progress? Hovv can international cooperation be strengthened for the benefit of ali?
Overcoming threats also requires the promotion of human and ecological values. Less government is not necessairly the same as good government. The cutbacks in social spending and the redistribution of vvealth tovvard the rich arrest social development and increase poverty. Political forces vvhich put people first are bound to emerge again. Some governments may fail to address social ills, but market forces hardly challenge them. What vvill be the future status of the underprivileged in societies? Hovv to find a balance betvveen the rights of minorities and the preservation of national unity? Hovv can religion be prevented from aggravating conflicts?
Transition is a vvorld-vvide problem, and it is not limited to the former Communist societies. If democracy is a struggle against oppression,
1982-1991] BOOK REVIES 169 the evolution of Western democracy is largely the history of restraining capitalism. Strong economic pressures today urge developed nations to seli arms whoever buys them. Without coordinated global economy, the proliferation of vveapons vvill continue to endanger peace. Can the "invisible hand" of the market resolve conflicts? Whose interersts vvill be served in the transition period?
Among the conclusions that the editors reach, perhaps the most important is that the West should not try to dictate or impose its ovvn system on the countries in transition.
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Günümüz Çevre Sorunları, Ankara, Birleşmiş Milletler Türk Derneği, 1994, 278 pp.
There is now a grovving avvareness that fighting against vvorld poverty, a very significant issue nationally and internationally, requires meeting the threats to the global environment and ecological systems. Although environmental degradation started vvith the industrial Revolution, concerns över its effects vvere felt only recently, It vvas as late as 1972 that the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment vvas held (Stockholm). Not only the principles agreed there vvere not applied in practice, but the special circumstances of the countries in the South vvere largely overlooked. Contrary to the situation in the developed North, poverty, and not affluence, vvas the reason for ecological depletion in the South. But novv both the industrialized and the developing countries agree that global cooperation is required. Doubtless, security has environmental dimensions as imperative as political or military ones. There is novv a consensus on an agenda for global environmental development.
The Turkish publication above is a yearbook of the United Nations Turkish Society, devoted to issues of the environment particularly those concerning Turkey. Fifteen of the articles are in Turkish and four in English. Rıza Akçalı's article is a general description of the society's responsibility for the protection of the environment. Cevat Geray shovvs the links betvveen this issue and the cooperative movement. Revievving the situation abroad, he suggests cooperation vvith the municipalities and the cooperatives. Ruşen Keleş stresses the grovvth of ecological concerns in vvorld capitals. He points out that the countries most succesful in the protection of their environment are those vvhich educate their citizens adequately. Halûk Gerger maintains that a contradiction exists betvveen humankind, on the one hand, and labour and nature, on the other, both based on exploitation and alienation. The same author, in another article, arques that the Nevv World Order (first enunciated by the former U.S. President George Bush) is, in reality, the "Old World Disorder". Suphi Karaman dvvells on environmental depletion as a result of
wars. Mustafa Çoşturoğlu is critical of steps that will eventually do avvay with the greenery of Gökova in the Southvvestern corner of Anatolia. Güneş Gürseler discusses nevv concepts such as the ozone layer, hazardous vvaste, desertification, deforestation, drought, soil degradation and the like. Ali Dündar also stresses the importance of citizen education. Süheyla G. Alıca concentrates on women's role in development and environmental proteetion. Birsen Yakın urges citizen participation in the decision-making organs. Nalan Akdeniz searehes for alternative energy policies. Nesrin Durmuş summarizes the intemational steps since the Stockholm meeting. Sedat Demirsoy analyzes the environmental policies of the Turkish political parties. Mehmet Emiralioğlu gives clues for education in environment.
The present colume is one of the evidences that Turkish seholarship is avvare of the interrelated issues of development, poverty, security and environment.
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Balkan Forum, Skopje, Nova M a k e d o n i j a , 1 9 9 2 .
Balkan Forum is the title of an intemational quarterly journal of politics, economics and culture that started to come out of Macedonia's capital since November 1992. Open to different opinions of various aulhors around the vvorld, the journal defines its funetion as a democratic forum of expert vievvs on Balkan and European affairs.
Jules Michelet, the 19th century French historian, once said: "Happy nations have no history." Do "unhappy nations" have too much history? Whether such generalizations are true or not, the Balkans, "the povvder keg" of Europe, continue to preoccupy us. The Berlin Wall fell dovvn, but not the "Balkan wall". The question of the Balkans is novv a European, nay, a vvorld problem.
But vve have no alternative to a continual renovation of hope. We have to be optimistic, in spite of ali odds. There is indeed a chance other than becoming a prisoner of the past. its precondition is tolerance and dialogue. The nevv journal called Balkan Forum vvants to bring this very idea to the public. It aims to examine historical causality and the social mechanism of the differences of cultures, values and entities. It started appearing at a time vvhen radical changes in that peninsula vvere taking place. Ovving to its position and the dramatic events, this region vvill gain greater importance in intemational affairs. This is also a challenge to the intellectual potential of the Balkanists. The pages of the journal are open to them.
1982-1991] BOOK REVIES 171 Eight issues having so far appeared, it seems impractical to summarize the views of each contributor. The fırst issue carried a piece each from two Turks (then President Turgut Özal and myself) and a third article by another writer from Turkey (O. Okyar) in the second issue. The late Özal, vvho underlined that European security could not be guaranteed vvithout the cessation of ethnic conflicts in the Balkans, expressed hope that the peoples concerned vvould be able to stand up on their feet. He reminded, hovvever, that although foreign aid vvas important, "capital must be made at home," as the Norvvegian economist Ragnar Nurkse had once stated. By analogy one can also say: "Europe starts at home." European civilization cannot be transferred. Europe starts at home, in every Balkan country. Okyar's article, vvhich is of historic nature, presents "Ouomanism" and constitutionalism as the tvvo pillars of the political program of the Union and Progress (İttihad ve Terakki) party that had brought dovvn Sultan Abdülhamid II (1908). My article is on Hugh Poulton's book entitled The Balkans.
Another article concerning Turkey (in Vol. II, No. 3) is by Pajo Avirovic, an Orientalist in Skopje. He tries to ansvver the follovving question: Why a Refah (Welfare) Party in Turkish politics? He lists the social structure from vvhich, grosso modo, Refah recruits its members and sympathizers, as follovvs: (1) the hardened Islamists, for vvhom "failh" is the living spiritus movens; (2) the religiously-oriented circles; (3) the conservative and patriarchal elcmcnts vvhich see in that party their hope for the renevval of traditional moral values; (4) a part of the Kurdish population vvhich sees the solution of the ethnic issue on the basis of religious solidarity propagated by Refah; (5) the poor urban suburbs; (6) some disappointed leftists; (7) the circles vvhich connect Turkish nationalism vvith Islamism and (8) part of the ideologically indifferent electorate concerned vvith diffıcult economic problems. The author's concern is understandably the future of the very region, vvhere Turkey is also located. He concludes, hovvever, that Turkey has made efforts to build a modern aid democratic society for the last seven decades and managed to approach this ideal in a number of domains. He notes that Kemalism stili proves to be the most adequate model for Turkish social reality.
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Polski Instytut Spravv Miedzynarodovvvvych, The Polish Quarterly of International Affairs, YVarszavva, Megaprint, 1992-1994. This periodical is a quarterly publication of the Polish Institute of International Affairs. its parent edition, Spravvy Miedzynarodovve, is 45 years of age. Published since 1992, the English edition is regularly presented in the catalogue of International Current Awareness Services and in
Ulrich's International Periodical Directory. Selected articles are also inclııded in the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. There has been apparently need for such an English edition, especially, not only the breakup of the bipolar world unleashed the imaginations of international relations experts, but also optimism gradually yielded to pessimism, forcing us ali to "return to history", although not at the same point at which it was left.
The Polish quarterly starts, in each issue, vvith the "Editor's Note", includes academic studies in the form of articles, and offers documents from diplomatic archives, bookreviews and notes as vvell as an "International Chronology" and an annual list of contents at the end of every fourth volume. The "Editor's Note" underlines, once every three months, changes on Poland's internal political stage and in its external environment as much as the crucial modifications in the international scene.
The articles are critical reflections on contemporary topics such as present-day nationalism in Europe, the new Continental military order, economic cooperation in the post-Cold War era, the role of the United Nations, the CSC and the International Court of Justice in conflict settlement or the enlargement of the European Union. I stated above that optimism has already yielded to pessimism - but vvith a difference, i.e., probably vve are not back at the same point. This difference offers a certain measure of hopefulness, hovvever cautious and beset by doubts. The Polish articles convey the encouragement and the question marks.
The "Diplomatic Archive" section usually carries edited, introduced and annotated documents. It uncovers formerly hidden aspects of Polish foreign relations, such as the minutes of meeting of delegations, including a heated discussion betvveen Gomulka and Ulbricht (Vol. III/I). Excerpts from the memoirs (Armia ze skaza) of General (retd.) Tadeusz Piöro, vvho vvas the first representative (1956-58) of the Polish General Staff to the Joint Command of the Warsaw Pact Armed Forces. The information that he discloses about the inner vvorking of the VVarsavv Pact headquarters in Moscovv and his assessments of the personalilies of Generals Antonov, Gusiev and others are engaging, if not fascinating (Vol. 11/4).
Pages of book-reviews inform the readers of recent scholarly publications from ali corners of the vvorld, and not necessarily from Poland. There are frequent references to American, Chinese, Japanese and Israeli as vvell as Polish, German and Ukrainian vvorks. Similarly, although a Polish journal, it gives a chronological summary, for the last three months, of global (instead of Polish) events. A prominent note in one of the issues is on the loss of the Polish Professor Remigiusz Bierzanck (1912-93), a prolific scholar whose latest book (A Study of International Society)
1982-1991] BOOK REVIEVVS 173 compiled his creative studies of the sources of international lavv. He vvas personally knovvn to this revievver as participant in several international conferences held in Geneva and Vienna.
There is enough evidence to believe that both the Polish -and the English- language editions of this informative journal of international relations have many more fruitful years ahead of them.
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Skender Rizaj, Burime Turke (Osmane) Mbi Luften a Shqiptareve Per Pavaresi Dhe Humbja e Ballkanıt (1908-1912); Kosova, Shqiptaret Dhe Turqit Die, Sol Dhe Neser; Dokumante Angleze Mbi Lidhjetı Shqiptare te Prizenit Dhe Fiilimin e Dopetimit te Ballkanit (1877-1885), Prishtine, istanbul, Tirana, Akademia e Intelektualeve Shqiptare e Shkencave Dhe e Arteve, 1993.
I have quoted only the Albanian titles of the books indicated above, one of them in tvvo volumes, vvritten by Professor Skender Rizaj. The texts of three are also given in English and in Turkish and that of the fourth in English as vvell. Ali four volumes are printed in Istanbl, on behalf of the Academy of Albanian Intcllectuals of Sciences and Arts, connected vvith Prishtine, on the one hand, and Tirana, on the other.
Connection vvith istanbul should not be a surprise for those vvho knovv that there is a small but thriving Albanian minority in Turkey. It is vvidespread in Westem and Central Anatolia, the majority living in istanbul, follovved by Bursa, izmir, Adapazarı, Tokat, Ankara, Sakarya and Samsun, vvith smaller groups elsevvhere. A preponderant number are urban people living in the largest cities, and those in the entrepreneur group are novv active in Turkish assistance to present-day Albania.
A group of them in Turkey have started bringing out a bi-lingual periodical called Besa (meaning "Oath"). The proclaimed aim of the journal, as expressed in its first issue (Dccember 1993), is to contribute to "Turco-Albanian brotherhood, vvith its roots in the past six centuries" and to "exhibit solidarity vvith the Müslim peoples of the Balkans against vvhom an alliance has been set up."
As vvell-knovvn, Albanians ali över the vvorld cali themselves "Shqiptare", and their language, vvhich is one of the Salem division of the Indo-European family, is "Arbrcsh" or "Shqipe" in their ovvn tongue, the tvvo chief dialects being "Geg" and "Tosk". But in Turkey, they are knovvn as
Müslim Turkish citizens of "Arnavut" descent, and Albanian, after Turkish, is a second language for those who can speak it.
The Albanians came to Turkey from the vvestern part of the Balkans, where they have always been one of the oldest peoples, the descendants of the ancient Illyrians. The Turks and the Albanians came into contact in the late
14th century vvhen the Ottoman Empire expanded and reached the Adriatic. The overvvhelming majority of the Albanians embraced islam through the Turks and adopted Islamic customs, the Islamic vvay of life and names, bringing them closer to the Turks. Irrespective of tensions betvveen feudal lords, governors and military men, typical of the Middle Ages, the Albanians gave the Ottoman state able administrators, foremost among them being G. Kastrioti, better knovvn as Skenderberg (İskender Bey), and M. Ali Pasha of Tepedelen. It vvas tovvards the end of 1912, in the midst of Üıe Balkan Wars, that the Albanian flag, the novv-familiar black tvvo-headed eagle on a red background (of the earlier hero Skenderbeg), vvas hoisted över the palace of convention that proclaimed the country a sovereign and independent state. Partly upon the insistence of Austro-Hungary, vvorried about Serbian expansion, Albania vvas recognized as independent only in 1913, but subject to the control (and guarantee) of the six Great Povvers. The "guarantee" did not really mean much, for the years to follovv brought outside interference and eventual invasion of Albania by one of the "guaranteeing" states.
Many Albanians fled from these deplorable circumstances. Turkey vvas a place vvhere they could go. The latter vvas regardcd as a sister country vvith vvhich the Albanian governments alvvays had good relations irrespective of the regime there. The representatives of the Ahmet Zog government before the vvar, of the Communist period and of contemporary times have alvvays had the best things to say about the Turkish Republic and its illustrious great founder. Many Albanians, not only from the Albanian proper, but also from the sizable and suppressed Albanian minority in Yugoslavia migrated to Turkey.
The author of the four volumes introduced above is also a migrant, vvho served as an advisor at the General Directorate of the Turkish State Archives in istanbul. Skender Rizaj, born in Pevva in 1930, studicd history in Skopje and Sarajevo and received his doctorate in 1965. He came to Turkey after having served as a history teacher in his home tovvn and later as a lecturer in Prishtine.
Rizaj's book on Ottoman sources connected vvith Albanian quest for independence throvvs some light on the reasons for Turkish vvithdravval from much of the Balkans as vvell. They explain, in addition, the motives of the European povvers to partition Albania, vvhich stood united during Ottoman times. The documents, printed in Turkish and Albanian, inelude portions of debates (1910-12) from the Ottoman Meclis-i Mebusan (Parliament), part
1982-1991] BOOK REVIEVS 175 of the memoirs (October 1912) of Majör Ali Mümtaz Bey, telegrams of the same period betvveen three Ottoman generals, a selection from Aram Andonian's book (Balkan Harbi Tarihi), quotations from Süleyman Külçe's compilation (Osmanlı Tarihinde Arnavutluk), based on the private archives of Fevzi Pasha (later, Field-marshal Fevzi Çakmak) and Şeyhülislâm Cemaleddin Efendi's notes as vvell as Cafer Tayyar's, Reşat Erkem's and Cemâl Kutay's assessment of the events of 1912 and the London Conference (1913).
His book on Kosovo (Kosova) dvvells mainly on the Albanian characteristics of that land, vvhich the author defines in geographically larger terms than it is knovvn novv. His approach is basically a criticism of Serbian historiography, vvhich over-emphasizes the role of the Serbs there throughout history and in contemporary times. Not only he necessarily ansvvers the questions as to vvho the Albanians are and hovv far the limits of their motherland go, but he also takes issues, vvhich he calls "falsifications", vvith several Serbian vvriters. The controversy is around the signifıcance of Serbian churches in Kosovo Battle (1389) vvith the Turks and the degree of authenticity of the "great Serbian movement" in Kosovo, allegedly led by Arsenie III Camojevic (1690).
Rizaj's tvvo connected volumes provide a selection of British documents (1877-1885) on the Albanian League of Prizren (Prisrend), led by Hadji Ömer Efendi. Having vvorked at the Public Record Office and the British Museum in London, he quotes parts (or the vvhole of) certain embassy and consular reports from different centers of Europe and the Balkans. Dividing the activities of the League into four periods, the author maintains that it represented a multi-confessional "democratic revolution" as vvell as being a national movement.
While ali four volumes are a help for those vvho vvork on late Ottoman history in the Balkans, and especially in Albania, they could have been better organized and proof-read.
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Journal of Turkology, eds., Ârpâd Betra and Âdâm Molnâr, Vol. I, No. 1 (Summer 1993), 173 pp.; Vol. I, No. 2 (YVinter 1993), pp. 1 8 3 - 3 3 5 .
Journal of Turkology is a nevv scholarly periodical, published tvvice a year by Molnar and Keleman Oriental Publishers in Szeged (Hungary), prints articles in Turkish linguistics of ali types-historical, comparative, theoretical and other. Contributions address aspects of the study on Turkic languages, ineluding deseriptions, etymologies, and
methodological issues. In addition to articles, the journal publishes reviews of books, brief accounts of works in progress, abstracts of dissertations and announcements of coming events. The languages used are English, French, German and Russian. Professors Hasan Eren (Turkish Language Society) and Nuri Yüce (istanbul University) are the two Turks in the eleven-member international Editorial Board.
Gerhard Doerfer's article in German (Bemerkungen zur Transkription des Runentürkischen) proposes ways and means to overcome the diffıculties in the transcription of Turkish texts in the runic letters. Challenging the interpretation that Rumî's (604/1207-672/1273) few Turkic verses are usually not considered important enough to make him a Turkish poct, Lars Johanson persuasively argues that in view of Rumî's enormous non-linguislic impact on Turkish poetry, the trend that he did virtually nothing towards the great work of founding Turkish literatüre is absürd. Johanson concludes that, not only did Rumî "preside" at the birth of Turkish poetry, but also his mixed verses mark the multilingual starting-point of the follovving grandiose development. Claus Schönig considers the Turkish of Turkey in his German article (Das Türkeitürkische, eine zentrale Ranssprache) as the most important and "normal" version of the language, on account of the number of people utilizing it no less than its political and cultural impact. Edvvard Tryjarski's article is a study on the religious terminology extracted from a series of Armeno-Kipchak texts, an important contribulion since a üst by Daskevich (1979). Istvân Vâsâry vvrites on the "sın" suffix (such as yoksun in Turkish, yatsun in Kipchak, or alısın in Kırgız, Kumuk, Tatar and Balker) in Turkic, claiming (in contradiction to Zalaczkovvski and Khabichev) that although there are Mongolian words in the Chagatay dictionary Sanglah, that suffix was much more widespread in old and modern Turkic languages than has been hitherto supposed. Therefore, he gives a plausible explanation of the formative "sın" as being of Turkic, instead of, Mongolian origin.
Hendrik Boeschoten traces (Chavvaresmtürkisch als z-Türkish) the alterations in sound as the Chagatai (Çağatay) language took the place of the Karahan dialect among the Central Asian vvritten languages. Christiane Bulut brings (Evliya Çelebi und die Inschrift von Adana) new light to the writings of the famous Ottoman traveller and offers complimentary information to R. Kreutel's former (Vol. 48, 1972) article in Der islam concerning Evliya Çelebi's controversial pieces of penmanship on the vvalls of historical buildings in Adana, Bosnia and Focha. Nurettin Demir dvvclls (Angabcn zum Prasens in Derleme Sözlüğü) on the singular importance of the cleven-volume Derleme Sözlüğü as a source of Turkic linguistics. Lars Johanson analyses (Typen kausaler Satzverbindungcn im Türkischen) the relationship betvveen clauses in Turkish sentences vvhether in the old (such as Chagatai or Ottoman) or modern languages. Claus Schönig conccntrates (Anlautvarianten von Plural- und Kasusuffixcn im Türkischen) on the
1982-1991] BOOK REVIEVS 177 suffixes of plural and cases (genetive, accusative, localive and ablative) in Tıırkic languages.
Journal of Turkology, prepared and printed in Hungary, is a serious professional periodical vvhich carries original research vvork vvith information on current and coming events concerning the study of Turkic languages.
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T.C., Başbakanlık, Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Macar Asıllı Türk Tarihçisi ve Arşivist Lajos Fekete'nin Arşivcili-ğimizdeki Yeri, Ankara, 1994, xvi+221 pp. The book, referred to above, is connected vvith the Hungarian Turcologist Dr. Lajos Fekete (1891-1969), vvho is one of the leading figures in the choice, classification and interpretation of Ottoman documents. Dr. Fekete, bom to a Hungarian family living near Budapest, graduated from the Department of History and Latin Philology of Pâzmâny Peter University and started learning Turkish in the intern camp in Krasnoyarsk, vvhere he met Turkish prisoners of vvar, like himself. His maiden visit to Turkey taken place in 1924, his first research, entitled Einführung in die osmanisch-türkishen Diplomatik der türkischen Botmassigkeit in Ungarn, and based on the private collection of the Zichy family, documents at the Debrecen and Gyönyös archives and research in Dresdcn, Berlin and Racoczi-Aspremont, vvas a contribution to the study of Turkish public administration and Ottoman-Hungarian relations in the Seventeenth Century.
Dr. Fekete vvas invited (1937) to Turkey to offer his expertise for the reorganization of the Ottoman archives. His detailed suggestions may be found in tvvo reports and tvvo public talks in the same years as vvell as in his article, entitled "A török Level-târügy" (Leveltâri Közlemenyek, 15,
1937, 10, 47). They vvere compiled and printed (1939) by the Turkish Ministry of Education.
The idea of "papers", or better documentation, vvas something respected in the Ottoman vvay of thinking and administration. As a precedent that vvent back even to the time of the Selçuk Turks, the Ottoman Turks felt bound to the custom of keeping records. Ali official undertaking, including the initial drafts, vvere prescrved. State archives vvere formed in the cities of Bursa and Edirne, until the conquest of istanbul (then Constantinople). It is believed, hovvever, that the archive in Bursa vvas destroyed during the Timur invasion (1402). Follovving the conqucst of istanbul (1453), the first archive came into being at Yedikule (the Seven Towers). It vvas later transfcrred to the Hippodrome (At Meydanı). They vvere furthcr carried to a site near the
imperial Council (Divan-i Hümâyûn) after the construction of the Topkapı Palace. There was also a private archive of the Sultan and his family vvithin the inner compounds of the palace.
Smaller archives came into being at the local level in several smaller cities. Copies of correspondence and ali other official business emanating from the offıce of the pashas (paşa divanı) in the provinces (eyalet) and their sub-divisions (sancak) were kept at the local archives. The decisions of the judges in these places formed part of the local compilations.
The Ottoman administration attached importance to safeguarding its archives against theft or destruction. Some secretaries, who showcd negligence, were very severely punished. There vvere extremely harsh penalties for forging documents. Frequently, orders vvere renevved for the proper safekeeping of archival material. An order by Abdülhamit the First, issued in 1785 (1200), the original of vvhich may be found the "Impartant Registers of the imperial Court" (Divan-i Hümâyûn M ü h i m m e Defterî, 183) is an example of official scrutiny. This document addressed to the Chief of Scribes (Reisü'l-küttab) vvho vvas in charge of correspondence to and from the imperial Council ordered him to safeguard properly ali vvritten documents, vvhich vvould henceforıh be kept in a restored depot in the garden of the Prime Minister's Palace. It enumerated the principles in utilizing the files and of protccting them as vvell as indicating those responsible for the handling. Even the Ottoman Sultans had to abide by established rules and regulations. No offical document vvas handed to the sovereign vvithout receipt. It vvould be put back in its original place after use.
But as offical business grevv by lcaps and bounds during dccades and centuries, millions of documents came to be kept in pouches, sacks und trunks either in the "Ancient Cellar" (Mahzen-i Atik) of the building at the Hippodrome or at the "Stocks Hail" (Tomruk Dairesi) of the Topkapı Palace. It had grovvn to be very rich and bountiful, but it vvas not an "archive" in the modem sense of the vvorld, but rather bundles of a giant accumulation, an unsystematic and unelassified conglomeration. They vvere subjected to humidity, floods, inadequate storage and similar shortcomings or adversities.
The initial steps tovvards "modernization" vvere taken as early as 1845 (1261). The Minister of Finance Safvetî Pasha ordered that year the re-arrangement and grouping of the documents kept at the Topkapı Palace. This attempt vvas the forerunner of a more tangible trial by Mustafa Reşit Pasha (1800-1858) about a year and-a-half later.
Reşit Pasha, an enlightened statesman open to innovation, had previously been Ottoman Ambassador to France and England and had kept himself there abreast of contemporary librarianship as vvell. He seemed
1982-1991] BOOK REVIEVVS 179 interested in the need for a usable archive aimost immediately after his appointment as Prime Minister ( S a d r a z a m ) on 7 Şevval 1262 (or September 28, 1864). He got the Sultan to issue a decree (irade*» seniyye) on 19 Zil'kade 1262 (or November 8, 1846) for the construction of a "Treasury of Papers" (Hazine-i Evrak) in the garden of the Sublime Porte (Bâb-ı Âli). Questions of librarianship and personnel were studied while a new building vvas constructed (by the Italian architect Fossati). Hasan Muhsin Efendi, an able administrator originally attached to the Prime Minister's Office (Sadâret), headed the nevvly-established Treasury of Papers novv elevated to the rank of the Ministry (Nezaret). It vvas named a "Ministry" on account of the importance attached to that organization. Likevvise, the director enjoyed a higher status than any other supervisor. A Provisional Council (Meclis-i Muvakkat), composed of sub-directors of the Porte (zabitan-ı aklam), prepared on April 12, 1849 a set of regulations to govern the archives. These regulations established, inter alia, that no document vvould be disposed of vvith the justification that it vvas "useless."
The establishment of similar national archives in some European countries coincides vvith the same period. The Public Record Office in London vvas reorganized in 1838. In others, it is at later dates. The Ottoman Empire, then, vvas not behind attempts in Western Europe. The administration of the archives, nevertheless, vvas reduced, in later years, from the Ievel of a Ministry to that of a Department (Müdürlük). It remained attached to the Prime Minister's Office.
Among the later Prime Ministers, Âli Pasha, Ahmed Cevad Pasha, Küçük Said Pasha and Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha shovved interest in the development of the archives. Regional and provincial archives vvere also built - in Manastır (1847), in the Danube (1868) and in Ankara (1868). It vvas in the year 1865 that a special department vvas formed to gather statistical data.
Further reorganization of the Ottoman archives vvas carried out in 1870 vvhen Âli Pasha (1815-1871) vvas acting Prime Minister. An inventory of the Imperial Council rcgisters vvas made during his time. The archives of many Ottoman ministries vvere set up, at a later date, taking the Hazine-i Evrak as a model. With the administrative reforms in the vvhole Ottoman Empire in 1864, archives at the vilayet (province) level vvere also formed. Midhat Pasha (1822-1884), vvhose name vvas later to be linked vvith the fırst Ottoman Constitution, had put into shape in 1868 the archives of his ovvn province-the Danube (vvhere he vvas the governor at the time). Some of the archives in Rumelia suffercd damages on account of vvars. The vvell-knovvn Saraybosna archives vvere later attached to the Oriental Institute in contemporary Sarajevo (Yugoslavia). The Tulça archives, held up in Bulgaria vvhile being transferred to istanbul by Governor Said Pasha during the
1877-78 Ottoman-Russian War, became the nucleus of the Bulgarian National Archives, set up a year later (1879).
It is important to remember at this point that these archives were constantly used by the chroniclers (vekayinüvis, later callcd vak'anivis). They authored their works solely based on the documents found in these archives. The contents of the manuscripts, on which formalities have been completed, were handed över to the chronicler, vvith the permission of the Chief of Scribes of the imperial Council. The chroniclers vvould get the information directly from the high-ranking bureaucrats. For instance, they vvould receive ali nevvs on appointments and dismissals from the Treasurer (kesedar) and on protocol, rights and rituals from the Master of Ceremonies (teşrifatçı). The responsible officals vvere expected never to hide anything from the chronicler, vvho nevertheless checked the information given to him. Selim the Third (1761-1808) had explicity ordered that no piece of information be kept from them, on the grounds that it vvas a "state secret". The vvorks of the chroniclers, submitted to the Ottoman Sultans, may generally be found at the Topkapı Palace, istanbul University Library and the Turkish Historical Society. One occasionally finds their copies in the other libraries. A rapid classification of the vvhole archives vvill enable us to evaluate better the funetions of the chroniclers.
The years of 1908-1922, that is the era of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, has also seen some improvements as far as the archives vvere concerned. The learned Abdurrahman Şeref vvas appointed as the nevv chronicler, the Committee of Ottoman History (Tarih-i Osmanî Encümeni) vvas formed and the "Journal of Ottoman History" (Tarih-i Osmanî Mecmuası) started publication. These nevv developments accentuated the importance of the Ottoman archives. Some of the historical material, vvhich had been staying in the cellars of the Topkapı Palace since the days of Mehmed the Conqueror, vvere moved to the Cevad Pasha Library in the Sublime Porte. The transferred manuscripts vvere carried in no fevver than 518 vehicles. Several classification committees vvere formed to put them in order. Ali Emin Efendi and İbnülemin Mahmud Kemâl vvere instrumental in cataloguing in that period.
Gradually, the archives came to be looked at as a service to researehers rather than as a requirement of bureaucracy. Turkish and foreign seholars began to vvork on them. The Hungarian Imre Karachon and the Bulgarian Vladimir Todorov Hindalov vvere the first tvvo foreigners. The article by Abdurrahman Şeref, entitled "Old Papers and Our Historical Documents", stressed the importance of our archives, even at that early date.
A "Treasury of War Papers" vvas formed vvithin the Ministry of War in 1916. An interesting event during that period vvas the order to transfer, for
1982-1991] BOOK REVIES 181 security purposes, some of the archive rriaterial to Konya, eventually brought back.
It vvas in the Republican period that a new impetus vvas given to organize the state archives. It vvas decided in 1935 to erect a nevv building for this purpose, to şort and classify the archives and to educate experts. The noted Hungarian Turcologist Lajos Fekete vvas invited to Turkey in connection vvith this general purpose. It vvas in the same year that Fekete vvas asked to come to Turkey that he vvas elected to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His vvork (1943) on the taxation system at the Ostrogon Sancak (the Turkish translatipn of vvhich appeared in Belleten), is generally regarded as an early e'xample verifying the importance of the Ottoman tax registars in the interpretation of history. His book on Budapest during the Turkish period (Büdapest a törökkorban) vvas printed in 1944, followed by another one (in tvvo volumes) in German (Dıe Siyaqat-Schrift in der türkischen Franzvervvaltung), novv appearing also in Turkish. The latter is a detailed analysis öf the siyakat style of vvriting until its abolition in 1880. Based on 104 documents, vvith the originals, translations and annotatiöns, this official material, pertaining to finance in contents, relate to the Balkans, Syria and Egypt, in addition to the Turkish proper.
Dr. Fekete published, much later (1962), together vvith Gyula Kâldy-Nagy, a leading source on the Ottoman financial records in Buda (Rechnungsbücher türkischen Finanzstellen in Buda [Ofen], 1550-1580].
A full bibliography of Feketc's vvritings appears in pages 9-17 of the Turkish book on him. He vvas elected an honorary member of the Turkish Historical Society and received the Kossuth Avvard from his native Hungary.
