Issue 88 · Winter 2019

Dear Readers,

We wish you a healthy, peaceful and successful year by celebrating your new year with the joy of making available the new issue of bilig. 2018 was a considerably productive year regarding the period of the integration of the Turkic World. Important decisions were taken on behalf of the common future of the Turkic world in the 6th Turkic Council Summit held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan on September 3, 2018. One of these decisions is related to the work of the Turkic Universities Union. Akhmet Yassawi University carries out the chairmanship-in-office of the Turkic Council Turkic Universities Union. In this regard, as bilig, we will endeavor to increase cooperation about the matter of international refereed scientific periodicals in the Turkic world.

In this issue, there are 9 distinguished articles from different fields of social sciences. “Istanbul as a Center of visit for Turkestani Pilgrims” penned by Yusuf Sarınay, based on archival documentation is also a very inspiring work for our day. In the article, pilgrims coming from Turkestan region to Hijaz via Istanbul and following the same route in their return and the Ottoman Empire’s covering some of the costs of pilgrims during their accommodation in Istanbul and pilgrimage are revealed through documents.

Prepared by Aksu and Çolak, the article titled “Contractual Obligations in Turkey’s Foreign Policy Crises: The Cyprus and Nakhchivan Crises” is gaining even more dimensions when it is read in the light of the border security of the Turkish Armed Forces, the fight against terrorism and the operation of the Euphrates Shield carried out within the framework of the territorial integrity of Syria. Another article you will read with interest by associating to present day is Cengiz Mutlu’s “In the Light of New Documents Sheikh Sunusi in Turkish National Struggle”. Mutlu gives us very interesting information regarding both the national liberation war and the Middle East and North Africa by exploring Sheikh Senusi deeply.

Crimea and the struggle for dominance over Crimea throughout history has a special place in Turkish and Russian history. It is not possible to understand the Crimean problem, which continues until today by concerning every period, without analyzing the historical process well. Kezban Acar’s “Propaganda during the Crimean War (1853-1856): Images of the War and the Enemies in Russian Popular Culture” and Alter Kahraman’s “Lenin Bayragı: between two fires” address the issues that are directly and indirectly related to the Crimean problem.

Russia is a state similar to the “ethnography museum” due to a large number of different nationalities living there. A large number of Turkish and Muslim people live in Russia. Among these, Bashkirs are located in the Ural region of Idil, while the Sakhas are located in North Eastern Siberia. The articles titled “Ancient Turkic Calender and Celebration of Navruz by the Bashkirs” and “Bear Festıval In Yakut Turks, Khanty-Mansıysk And Nenets And Musıcal Instruments Used in The Festival” contains interesting information about the intangible cultural heritage of Turkish-language peoples living in Russia. The article titled “The Types of Sarmat Tombs in Western Kazakhstan” also provides information from archaeological excavations related to ancient Turkish history.

Funda Çapan Özdemir, who analyzed the novel of Ahmet Metin and Sirzad by Ahmet Mithat Efendi, one of the Tanzimat intellectuals, reveals a pioneering intellectual view of Turkish modernization and the early periods of Westernization initiatives over two centuries.

In the book review section, the blurbs of three new works by Osman Horata, Fatih Köksal, Mustafa Tatcı , who are among the well-known academicians in the fields of Turkish Literature and Turkology in Turkey, are stated.

The vastness of the Turkish world, the richness and diversity of Turkish history and culture are so great that bilig only offers you a drop from this large body of water. We wish you an enjoyable reading with the hope that we will not be the ones who are in the sea without being aware of the water.

Prof. Dr. Fırat PURTAŞ

Editor in Chief