Issue 91 · Autumn 2019

Dear Readers,

The formation process started with the Ankara Summit in 1992, the Turkic-Speaking States Cooperation Council completed its 10th anniversary on 3 October 2019. The Turkic Council was established with the aim of providing an institutional structure to the Summit of the Heads of States of the Turkic Speaking States, which was held in October 1992 and to continue the integration efforts of the Turkic World under the umbrella of an international organization. Signed at the 9th Summit of the Heads of States of the Turkic Speaking States on October 3, 2009 in Nakhchivan, the Final Declaration is considered as the founding bill of the Turkic Council. One year later, at the 1st Turkic Council Summit held in Istanbul on 16 September 2010, it was decided that 3 October would be celebrated as the Cooperation Day of Turkic World in the member states. The date 3 October is also one of the most important festivals for bilig, which publishes with the intention of enriching the accumulation of Turkic World in the field of social sciences, presenting the researches reflecting different aspects of Turkish history and culture to the benefit of humanity, and generating solutions for the current problems of the Turkic World. Based on this view, we dedicated this issue to the 10th anniversary of the Turkic Council and determined the integration of the Turkish World as the topic of a special issue.

This issue includes 11 valuable articles. Erman Akıllı discusses TURKSOY and the Turkic Council within Karl Deutch’s “transactionalist” approach. Akıllı highlights that both organizations perform important functions in the field of cultural diplomacy. Established in 1993 and whose main purpose is to strengthen cultural cooperation between the Turkic Republics, TURKSOY is one of the related institutions operating under the umbrella of the Turkic Council. The article prepared by Ayfer Gedikli et al. investigates the relationship between the health expenditure and life expectancy in the case of Turkey and other Turkic Republics. The relationship between the two variables was analyzed based on the data between 2000 and 2015. Fırat Yaldız examines the concept of Turkish diaspora in a critical approach and tries to find out the answer for the question of whether Turkish diaspora could exist or not. The article by İbrahim Sarıtaş depicts the struggle for the global power in the Ottoman territories a hundred years ago via the German diplomat and archaeologist Oppenhaim. Sarıtaş’s article reveals that Germany has incontrovertible influence in the emergence of Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism policies. Nilgün Eliküçük analyzes the “one belt one road” project initiated by the PRC from the views of Chinese academics. Savaş Çevik examines the attitudes of Turkey and orher Turkic States’ citizens toward the role of government. In the article penned by Nazım Hikmet Polat, he focuses on the importance of literature course books in terms of the integration of the Turkic World.

Gaspirali Ismail published the newspaper Tercüman for 31 years from 1883 until his death in 1914 with the ideal of “unity in language, mindset and action” and worked throughout his life to spread this ideal. In the background of the transformation of “unity in language, mindset and action” approach into the motto of the integration of the Turkic World, Gaspıralı has both mental and actual effort that lasts a lifetime. We would like to congratulate all of our authors and readers’, who share the same ideal and strive for this ideal, the day of 3 October the Cooperation Day of Turkic World. We wish our new issue will be useful.

Prof. Dr. Fırat Purtaş

Editor in Chief