In January 1877, the Constantinople ‘Tersane’ Conference, attended by the Great Powers including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, came to an end. The Conference had started in December 1876, and was intended to address the Ottoman Empire’s problems, commonly referred to by European politicians and diplomats as the “Eastern Question”. The year 1876 had […]
Today, 2nd Dec., marks the centenary of an historical event significant to both Britain and Turkey. On this day in 1916, the Russian Parliament publicly announced a secret agreement with Britain that would hand Istanbul to the Russians after the conclusion of the First World War. This deal is typical of wartime attitudes various European […]
One of Turkey’s most renowned historians will be the subject of a talk at the Yunus Emre Institute this Thursday. Halil İnalcık, who passed away in July aged 100, was a leading authority on the Ottoman Empire, frequently challenging the biased and often hostile narratives of the West, as well as the exaggerated, nationalistic and […]
Named after the two diplomats who helped shape this secret accord between the British and French governments during World War I, the Sykes-Picot Agreement planned to carve up the Ottoman Empire among the Allied Powers. Russia was also privy to the discussions, which started in November 1915 and was confirmed by the parties a hundred years […]
