From Mudros to Lausanne: how Ahmed Emin’s perception of the 'other' changed?

Abstract

This thesis explores an eminent liberal journalist, Ahmed Emin (Yalman)’s changing perceptions of the “other” in the armistice period (1918-1923). Throughout the work, how Ahmed Emin perceives non-Muslim Ottomans, non-Turkish Muslims and the Western powers, as well as the alteration of his receptions are analyzed through both qualitative and quantitative methods based on content analysis. Furthermore, having in addition to the analysis of his articles published in two newspapers Vakit and Vatan in Istanbul during the armistice period, his narration and reconstruction of the past events in his memoirs, one of which was composed in English, are also included in the comparative analysis. The consequence of the studies carried out within this thesis shows that along with the continuous elements in his writings, such as his almost unchanging liberal-Westernist ideology, Ahmed Emin’s opinions and stance were subject to change in accordance with the transformations in the conjuncture, and especially with the shifts in power configurations..|Keywords : Ahmed Emin Yalman, Istanbul, Mudros Armistice, Turkish independence war, Lausanne Peace Treaty, armistice period, change, other, mandate question, late Ottoman and modern Turkish history, history of press, memoirs, reconstruction of the past.