Beyond conflict and coexistence: cosmopolitanism and inter-communal relations in late Ottoman cities

ABSTRACT

This article attempts to apply a cultural definition of cosmopolitanism (a practiced disposition of openness to the communal Other) to the late Ottoman urban context. It starts with a discussion of the problems of Ottoman urban history literature, especially in relation to the concept of cosmopolitanism and an alternative perspective to cosmopolitanism during the transitionary period of the 1820s to 1920s follows. The study then focuses on two Ottoman cities, Ankara and Belgrade, which were not port-cities often deemed cosmopolitan, and where there was no social or spatial segregation until the demise of cosmopolitanism in the very last years of imperial polity (the 1860s in Belgrade and 1910s in Ankara). The goal is to point out that, although the homogenizing pressures of the modern state, nationalism(s), and capital accumulation eventually prevailed, many residents of these Ottoman cities countered them for a considerable period through their everyday interactions, daily routines, habits of space use and socialization patterns, bringing about late Ottoman cosmopolitanism.

KEYWORDS:

• Cosmopolitanism
• Ottoman city
• Belgrade
• Ankara
• coexistence
• cultural cosmopolitanism

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. For an excellent critique of the notion of Islamic city and its ongoing impact on Ottoman urban studies, see Lafi (2019).

2. See, among others, Marcus (1989); Mazower (2004); Sert Sandfuchs (2008); Zandi-Sayek (2012).

3. The general scholarship, too, has dealt with cosmopolitanism largely in the context of the Enlightenment and post-WWI world, but rarely in connection with the (long) nineteenth century. With impressive technological innovation, increasing mobility of human beings, and the rise of nationalism, the nineteenth century forms an appropriate context for the discussion of cosmopolitanism (Huber and Jansen 2021, 40–41).

4. The tension between uniformity and accommodation of local circumstances is an important theme in the literature on the Tanzimat reforms. A good summary and analysis of the relevant literature could be found in Kuehn (2021). Also see the pioneering work by Reinkowski (2017).

5. Directorate of State Archives of Turkey, Ottoman Archives.

6. The National Archives of the UK, Foreign Office records.

7. Unlike Armenians and Greeks, the Jewish community to a large extent survived the tumultuous period of 1914–22.

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Notes on contributors

E. Attila Aytekin

E. Attila Aytekin has studied at Middle East Technical University (BSc, Political Science), Bilkent University (MA, History) and SUNY-Binghamton (PhD, History). He has published on a wide range of subjects including poverty and deindustrialization in Turkey and Europe, Ottoman social and economic history, Turkish politics, and urban history. In 2018–2019, he was a fellow at Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (KWI) Essen, Germany. He is currently a professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.