Turkey and the Balkans during the Interim between the Two World Wars

Presented by the Ottoman Bank Museum on the third Saturday of each month, The Making of Modern Turkey Seminars, focus this season on "Turkey and the World in the Interim between the Two World Wars." On Saturday, October 14, at 2:30 p.m., Prof. Zafer Toprak joins us with a presentation entitled, "Turkey and the Balkans during the Interim between the Two World Wars," in which he discusses the impact of the Balkan War.

According to Toprak, developments in the Balkans, and more specifically the Balkan Wars, played a key role in the emergence, in the 20th century, of the interwar period known as the "Dark Age," which, in turn, led to the building of a new nation state in Ottoman Turkey. The fall of the Ottoman Empire was closely linked to these events in the Balkans. Despite unfavorable conditions, in the wake of the War of Independence and during the interim years, the Balkans held a unique significance for Turkey and became the backbone of its foreign policy. While Turkey sought security in the Balkans and respected the Balkan Pact, developments in the internal politics of these countries also had an indirect impact on the Turkish political regime. Nonetheless, compared to the Balkans, Turkey experienced much more stable internal and external politics.

The Making of Modern Turkey Seminars have switched focus this season,  from domestic issues to the external world and will continue their in-depth analysis of Turkish foreign policy throughout the coming year.

The Making of Modern Turkey Seminars

Prof. Zafer Toprak After graduating, in 1969, from the Department of International Relations, in the Faculty of Social Sciences, at Ankara University, he obtained his master's degree in economic history from the University of London, (SOAS-LSE) and his Ph.D. in economics from Istanbul University. Toprak taught at the University of London, at Boğaziçi University, at the University of Minnesota, and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris and specialized in late Ottoman and modern Turkish economic and social history. He has published numerous books and articles and curated two exhibitions held in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic: Bir Yurttaş Yaratmak-Muassır bir Medeniyet için Seferberlik Bilgileri [Creating the Citizen –Mobilizing the Masses in the Path of Civilization] and Demir Yol - Tren Çağı [The Age of Railroads]. He is currently director of the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History at Boğaziçi University and the editorial director of Homer Press (Istanbul),

The Making of Modern Turkey Seminars Turkey and the Balkans during the Interim between the Two World Wars Prof. Zafer Toprak Friday, October 14, 2006 5:00 p.m. Free admission The Ottoman Bank Museum Bankalar (Voyvoda) Caddesi 35/37 (0212) 334 22 70