How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic
Although Turkey was officially divided into seven regions for the first time in the First Turkish Geography Congress (1941), both throughout the Ottoman Empire and following the proclamation of the Republic, many geographers, including Europeans made attempts to regionalize it. The Congress, being t...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/316B4727E8A6475FB46D2D6C0D14BE0F |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849728986348781568 |
|---|---|
| author | Gözde Orhan |
| author_facet | Gözde Orhan |
| author_sort | Gözde Orhan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although Turkey was officially divided into seven regions for the first time in the First Turkish Geography Congress (1941), both throughout the Ottoman Empire and following the proclamation of the Republic, many geographers, including Europeans made attempts to regionalize it. The Congress, being the one to settle on the standardization of geography education as well as zoning, gives valuable insight into the interactions between official history, geography, and national education in the modernization process. Nevertheless, the regional division began in the 1920s and discussions continued after the congress. An understanding of regional classification drawn by the natural boundaries of physical elements was preferred to make the spaces historically marked by different ethnic and cultural communities ordinary parts of a homogeneous whole and to comprehend, control, and recognize them entirely. This article problematizes the meaning and function of regional division in the political and ideological climate of the Early Republic. It reveals how modern geography is handled, on which criteria the geographical zoning is made, and the relationship of this initiative with the hegemonic historiography. This research analyzes texts on regional geography written by geographers and cartographers from the Republican era along with the records, negotiations, and decisions of the Congress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9096addf03a84973ab482f90b98b51c1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2618-6330 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-9096addf03a84973ab482f90b98b51c12025-08-20T03:09:23ZengIstanbul University PressSiyasal: Journal of Political Sciences2618-63302023-12-0132110111510.26650/siyasal.2023.32.1352751123456How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the RepublicGözde Orhan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1381-4025Altınbaş Üniversitesi, Istanbul, TurkiyeAlthough Turkey was officially divided into seven regions for the first time in the First Turkish Geography Congress (1941), both throughout the Ottoman Empire and following the proclamation of the Republic, many geographers, including Europeans made attempts to regionalize it. The Congress, being the one to settle on the standardization of geography education as well as zoning, gives valuable insight into the interactions between official history, geography, and national education in the modernization process. Nevertheless, the regional division began in the 1920s and discussions continued after the congress. An understanding of regional classification drawn by the natural boundaries of physical elements was preferred to make the spaces historically marked by different ethnic and cultural communities ordinary parts of a homogeneous whole and to comprehend, control, and recognize them entirely. This article problematizes the meaning and function of regional division in the political and ideological climate of the Early Republic. It reveals how modern geography is handled, on which criteria the geographical zoning is made, and the relationship of this initiative with the hegemonic historiography. This research analyzes texts on regional geography written by geographers and cartographers from the Republican era along with the records, negotiations, and decisions of the Congress.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/316B4727E8A6475FB46D2D6C0D14BE0Ffirst turkish geography congressgeographical regionsgeographical zoning |
| spellingShingle | Gözde Orhan How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences first turkish geography congress geographical regions geographical zoning |
| title | How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic |
| title_full | How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic |
| title_fullStr | How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic |
| title_full_unstemmed | How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic |
| title_short | How to Divide the “Indivisible Unity”? Debates on the Division of Turkey into Geographical Regions in the Early Years of the Republic |
| title_sort | how to divide the indivisible unity debates on the division of turkey into geographical regions in the early years of the republic |
| topic | first turkish geography congress geographical regions geographical zoning |
| url | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/316B4727E8A6475FB46D2D6C0D14BE0F |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gozdeorhan howtodividetheindivisibleunitydebatesonthedivisionofturkeyintogeographicalregionsintheearlyyearsoftherepublic |