Papers by Edip Golbasi
Études Arméniennes Contemporaines, 2017
This paper examines the official terminology, representations, and narratives regarding the ori... more This paper examines the official terminology, representations, and narratives regarding the origins and nature of the anti-Armenian riots of 1895-1897. Official language provides evidence useful in understanding the ways in which the government authorities conceptualized and responded to these events. It suggests that through the constant use of the passive voice and euphemistic statements, the imperial authorities sought to neutralize the violence committed against a particular segment of the population and tried to conceal the agency of perpetrators in the mass killing of Ottoman Armenians. The official narrative—or the deployment of the concept of provocation as a direct explanation for violence—did not simply arm the Ottoman authorities with a rhetoric they could effectively use for domestic and international consumption, but it also freed them from moral responsibility and the punishment of perpetrators. Narratives of provocation also raised a host of significant questions about causality, accountability, and victimhood.
Devil W orshippers' Encounter the State 1 3 5 orthodox Islam centuries ago. W hile the community ... more Devil W orshippers' Encounter the State 1 3 5 orthodox Islam centuries ago. W hile the community constantly strove to gain official recognition as a legitimate religious confession, Ottoman political elites and official religious authorities denied that Yezidism was a religion in itself, and that the Yezidis were a separate non-Muslim confessional entity. The second was the constant struggle between the community and the state over the obligation of military service, which the Yezidis consistently refused to fulfill. The Yezidis were apparently unwilling to carry out compulsory military service for the same reasons as so many other imperial subjects in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere. Yet, what was particular, if not unique, about the Yezidi case is that the community leaders claimed that military service was incompatible with their religious rituals and practices. The issue of military conscription, therefore, had very much to do with the question of identity, as well as with the emergence of a new regime of power that had begun to impose new obligations on Yezidi tribes and therefore ultimately threatened their relatively independent livelihood. Finally, the third was the attempt of the Ottoman government to convert the Yezidis to Islam during the Hamidian period (1876-1909), which sought to produce docile Islamic subjects out of 'heretic' and 'savage' Yezidis. The Hamidian bureaucrats tellingly named their conversion policy as the 'correction of the beliefs', or tashih-i akaid, which revealed the state's categorization of Yezidi beliefs as 'incorrect' and 'deviant' from some orthodox understanding of Islam. The Ottoman authorities assumed that the internalization of Sunni Islamic values by the Yezidis would facilitate their integration to the imperial order and make them conform to the image of the empire's loyal Muslim subjects. The state's aggressive conversion campaign against the Yezidis as well as other 'heterodox' groups was also an indication of the Hamidian regime's desire to transform fluid, communal, and 'ambiguous' identities into fixed, unthreatening, and officially promoted categories.
Irnparatorlugu'nun dogu vilayetleri, 1895 ve 1896 yillannda genis capli bir cemaatler arasi cansm... more Irnparatorlugu'nun dogu vilayetleri, 1895 ve 1896 yillannda genis capli bir cemaatler arasi cansma ve Ermeni karsiu ayaklanmalar dalgasina sahne oldu. Kitlesel siddet olaylanrun karsihkh catisma biciminde basladigi yerlerde bile, cemaatler arasi siddetin asimetrik dogasi ile Ermeni karsin ayaklanmalann organize karakteri, Ermeniler aleyhine muazzam bir kaybin olusmasina neden oldu. Gercekten de soz konusu ayaklanmalar sirasmda binlerce Ermeni olduruldugu gibi, binlercesi siddet ve olumdcn kurtulmak amaciyla din degistirip Musluman olduklanru ilan etmek zorunda kaldr. Cok sayida Ermeni kadin kacinhp zorla Muslumanlastinldi ve Musluman erkeklerle evlenmeye zorlandi, Dahasi, saytsiz ev, dukkan, kilise ve koyun yagmalanmasr veya atese verilmesi buyuk bir rnaddi yikima yol acn. Organize siddet, yagma ve arazi gasbi ayrn zamanda binlerce Ermeni koylusunu baska sehir ve ulkelere goc etmek zorunda birakn. Kitlesel siddetin failleri cogunlukla siradan ahali, esraf, asiret liderleri ve adamlan, bazi orneklerde de giivenlik kuvvetleriydi.
The Muslim World 103/1, Jan 2013
Tarih ve Toplum: Yeni Yaklaşımlar 13, 2011
Tarih ve Toplum: Yeni Yaklaşımlar 9, 2009
Thesis Chapters by Edip Golbasi
Uploads
Papers by Edip Golbasi
Thesis Chapters by Edip Golbasi