An Emblematic Case in the Kingdom of Iraq: the Jewish Commander in Charge of the Baghdad Arsenal, Yamen Yousef, from Integration in Nation-Building to Exclusion

This article illustrates aspects of modern Iraqi history, being concerned with the life and career of Yamen Yousef (Yāmēn Yūsif, Hebrew name: Yāmīn Ṣiyyōn [ben] Yōsēf [ben] Nissīm), an officer in the army of the Kingdom of Iraq, who was the commander in charge of the Baghdad Royal Arsenal in the 1930s, and earlier on had been one of the three young officers made to proclaim Iraq’s first king during the coronation ceremony. That up to the late 1930s he was commander in charge of the Baghdad Royal Arsenal is in retrospect surprising (and that late in that decade a false charge was made against him by the far right is unsurprising), in consideration of rising animosity towards his ethno-religious identity. This came to a breaking point when he resigned, thus reverting from the acquired status of a career in the service of the state, to private bourgeoisie: this was happening in the first decade of full independence, when Jewish civil servants were being dismissed in their droves, after having been co-opted into the process of nation-building, owing to their educational qualifications giving them for a while an advantage. This study contributes novel data and facets that enable a fairly novel, and certainly more nuanced view of intercommunal relations in Iraq from late Ottoman times throughout the Hashemite monarchy (and beyond).

Book Review: Christine M. Philliou, Turkey: A Past Against History. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021.

This book depicts transformation of the Ottoman and Turkish society between the Second Constitutional Monarchy (1908) of the late Ottoman Empire and the 1960s of modern Turkey with a focus on the life and works of Turkish journalist author Refik Halid Karay (1888-1965). Karay is known with his short stories and novels in Turkish literature. Using excerpts from Karay’s newspaper articles, stories, and novels, Philliou shows how an Ottoman liberal criticized the policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the nationalists in Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence and the subsequent regime in the early years of the Turkish Republic. Using the term muhalefet [opposition], Philliou focuses on the transition of Karay from a dissident figure into a discontent patriot. While doing this, Philliou skillfully draws the framework of Turkish modernity between 1908 and 1960.

Camera, Canvas, and Qibla: Late Ottoman Mobilities and the Fatih Mosque Painting

This article discusses the multiple mobilities of images, photographs, photographers, viewers, and places by focusing on Miʿmarzade Muhammed ʿAli’s (d. 1938) oil-on-canvas painting, now located in the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. It explores the limits, lives, possibilities, and uses of photographic views and the exchanges between photography, painting, and print media by investigating the geopolitics and geopiety of the Hamidian era (i.e., Sultan ʿAbdülhamid II, r. 1876–1909), the production and circulation of early photographs of Mecca and Medina, and the spatial tradition of qibla decorum. It examines the photographic oeuvres of Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (d. 1936), al-Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ghaffar, and the committee of the Erkān-ı Ḥarbiyye (General Military Staff), including Muhammad Sadiq Bey (d. 1902), as well as the reproductions and changing contexts of these photographs. Furthermore, this article highlights the role of print media in the dissemination and mobilization of the photographic image and the malleable politics of representation, especially as it pertains to the two sacred cities of Mecca and Medina.

Tracing the Ottoman Legacy of Deficient Horizontal Relations in Turkish Civil Society

<p>This paper attempts to supplement a literature concerned with Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy, especially as it pertains to the functioning of civil society in Turkey. It does so because the efficacy of civil society in Turkey is a major topic of discussion in light of its European Union accession bid, and Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy is yet to be comprehensively teased out. While the strong state tradition which is part of the Ottoman legacy is well documented, relations within society separate from the state‘s influence are yet to be subjected to an historical analysis. While the influence of the state on Turkish society is pervasive, and must be a component of any analysis of civil society in Turkey, analysis focusing on Turkey‘s strong state legacy has obscured other interesting facets of the country‘s Ottoman legacy. This paper posits that deficiencies in Turkish civil society are not just the result of the strong state tradition, but also reflect social attitudes that can be traced to a number of policies implemented in the late-Ottoman Empire.</p>

Tracing the Ottoman Legacy of Deficient Horizontal Relations in Turkish Civil Society

<p>This paper attempts to supplement a literature concerned with Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy, especially as it pertains to the functioning of civil society in Turkey. It does so because the efficacy of civil society in Turkey is a major topic of discussion in light of its European Union accession bid, and Turkey‘s Ottoman legacy is yet to be comprehensively teased out. While the strong state tradition which is part of the Ottoman legacy is well documented, relations within society separate from the state‘s influence are yet to be subjected to an historical analysis. While the influence of the state on Turkish society is pervasive, and must be a component of any analysis of civil society in Turkey, analysis focusing on Turkey‘s strong state legacy has obscured other interesting facets of the country‘s Ottoman legacy. This paper posits that deficiencies in Turkish civil society are not just the result of the strong state tradition, but also reflect social attitudes that can be traced to a number of policies implemented in the late-Ottoman Empire.</p>