STUDIES: Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies (Yildiz Technical University Istanbul), Istanbul 06.-07.12.2010, YTU Auditorium, Istanbul, TURKEY

Deadline: 05.07.2010

The Center for Balkan and Black Sea Studies (BALKAR) at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, organizes an international symposium on the "Caucasian Migration of 1864" on December 6-7, 2010. The forced migration of 1864 was the largest migration movement from Caucasus during the period of the Russian occupation. More than a million people were affected by this event. The largest group among the migrants was the Circassians, but other Muslim groups from the Caucasus were to join this migration movement. Ottoman authorities settled this population mainly in the Balkans, Anatolia and the Middle East. Their successors are still living in these territories, especially in Turkey and Jordan.

The aim of this international symposium is threefold: 1- to examine to which extent this forced migration, almost entirely unknown to the general public, has been a subject of academic research; 2- to bring together experts of the topic; and 3- to encourage young academicians to carry out research on the subject.

The symposium will examine the Migration of 1864 from four different angles:
1. The causes of the 1864 Caucasian Migration: The Ottoman-Russian relations in the 19th century, the Caucasus policy of Russia and the political, economic and social situation of the Muslims of Caucasus in the 19th century, the causes of migration.
2. The forced migration of 1864 and waves of migration in the following years: The Russian expansion in the Caucasus, wars, resistance, migration movements, migration routes, epidemics during the migration and death etc.
3. The situation of the Muslim Caucasians after the Migration of 1864: the establishment of the Russian administration in Caucasus, the situation of the Muslims under Russian administration until the present day.
4. The Settlement of the Caucasian migrants and the process of their integration: The areas of settlement for the Caucasian migrants, the process and problems of their integration, the developments until the present day.

Scholars willing to participate in the symposium shall send the title of their presentation with an abstract of 200-300 words as a Word document to the organizing committee by July 5, 2010. Among the applications those papers which are based on archive research or field work, and particularly those of young scholars writing a master thesis or PhD dissertation on this theme will be given priority.

Following the symposium, the papers will be published in an edited book titled "The Caucasian Migration of 1864."

Organization Committee:
Doç. Dr. Mehmet Hacisalihoglu (Director of BALKAR):
Hacisalihoglu.Mehmet@gmx.de
Yaprak Has (YTU undergraduate student): hasyaprak@gmail.com
Keisuke Wakizaka (YTU graduate student): kafkaslikeisuke85@gmail.com

For further information and update: www.bal-kar.org