Middle east name’s

9th century: vasatül ard (middle of the earth)

10th century: vasatül dünya (center ıraq)
12th century: awsat al aquilium (center of all climes)
(finest the human races) (most beatiful thing in the world)

if you have political power, you can put our name

1- East of the 10th century

Eastern Question
1815 Vienna Congress —> “Balkans”
Belgrade West/East
1831-1840 —> Egypt

End of the 19th century

Eastern Question —> all of Eurasia
French 1848 —> Constantinapole, Central Asia, Pasific Ocean

Changing power relations

geopolitics —> naming

2- Near East
from 1840s —> 1940s

China —> Far East

Iraq, Syria —> Near East
India —> Middle East

3- Middle East
2nd World War
Middle East as a central place in the war againist Germany , Italy
example: oil
—> Cold War (1945-1990)
—> Area studies
—> Palestine-Israel end of 1940
—> Terror 9/11 (2001)
Fundemental Islam

military and political goals —> academic journalism

indigenous& national (yerli ve milli)

MESA —> IJMES

Region
⁃ distinctive future (according to certain)—> criteria
⁃ boundaries

*religion (Islam?)
*language (Arabic, Persia, Turkish, Kurdish)
*political system (non democracy, half democracy)
*ideology
*ethnicity (Armenian, Turks)
I'll go over the slides here then no not not that this one of the slideshow is this OK let's get started here so
1946 OK Middle East this is Middle East 1946 according to the Middle East Toronto it was just founded at
the syndrome court and according to this journal it's an areas that is another journal I'll I'll talk about what
areas that is means but this is this is the map I think it included all the areas from Morocco up until India
even even just almost rumaiya just within a day change you drop Afghanistan Pakistan and India baluchi
Morocco etcetera but this time you also drop Turkey or Turkey is no more and Middle Eastern and 52 is
even more according to World Bank OK this is a very small area Rd. Health Organization according to edge
so yeah completely different combination of countries from the same general geography but all different
combinations so this is near eastern South Asia according to CIA 9/19/75 so this is sepco Middle East
according to 1983 you have now Kazakhstan came here from Kazakhstan to Kenya but not including but but
excluding Turkey and India and Libya So what what is this state state department again in the US 1992 just
at the end of the World War again excluding Turkey a map of Middle East so anyway I I want to talk about
this historical project in a in a more smoother way but the point is that today within today there are there are
different maps of the Middle East and historically Middle East map always changed so when they're looking
about Middle East it is not a stable coherent regional entity that's why throughout the course it's a difficult
time for it for him my other class is history of Iraq that's clear you know whenever they're Iranians whenever
they're Iranian rulers sansanis ahamanis etcetera southernist cultures is clear boundaries but Middle East so
am I going to include India in the service or not I don't know why I didn't know so we will try our best to
understand what is this Middle East None

And Michelle Foucault. OK, I am. I am sure you have heard either the names or at least the argument
regarding this knowledge and power. So as I will show you, the main Middle East, beforehand it was Near
East, all the concepts used by the European and the American policy makers, academics, historians, etcetera.
So these are not the concepts of the people of Middle East in courts, OK? The Middle Easterns themselves
did not call first as Middle Easterns, Easterners, OK, these are concepts that were named, produced, created
by the Europeans and Americans. And we still in the 21st century in a in a universal setting in Turkey, a
country which is allegedly within the Middle Eastern region, we are in, in that country talking. The name of
the course is contemporary Middle East, right? We are having a lecture, of course in the name which was
given by the Europeans and the Americans. If it is, for example, the people of Middle East themselves, how
can we call the this region beforehand? Have you ever thought about it Middle East in the Ottoman times?
Do they call the Middle East if you say to an Ottoman Sultan? So how do you rule Middle East? And the
first answer from him would be, where is this Middle East? Come on, you are the Sultan of Middle East.
Now what would be the answer? Right. So. So you did not name here. This is the name put by somebody
else and it shows that they were during the imperial times. They were powerful, but they are still powerful. It
is the legacy of power. OK, so the legacy still continues. Even though Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran,
Syria, all the countries in today's Middle East are all independent countries. They use the concept of the
Westerners to call themselves. So you identify yourself with a concept not indigenous to you. Why? In the
beginning, it was the imperial power that imposed upon you itself and then you just. We're not able to come
up with another more indigenous concept because this power relation still continues. OK. Let me briefly
summarize or the kid I you in Turkey for example if you also have some names for for for different regions
in Turkey. So seven regions right. So Arctinus, the Tyranium, Karadinis, Lexi again Asian Trachea,
Marmara, Mammala Mammal region and each one of the world interior Anatolia and two other Southeastern
Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia. Look, this is the map of Turkey, southeast EE anatol E turn Anatolia make of
it southeastern Anatolia. Anatolia and all the others who are have their own specific names, right? Blacks,
Blacks. Not N Anatolia, Mediterranean Aegean, Marmara. When you are today. So this is. This is Turkey.
This is the world. Here it is. This is Middle East, This is Far East. This Is Us, This is Europe. Did you now
come come to an understanding about the the existence of Far East, Middle East, but non existence of
Middle W, Far West and non existence of like S Anatolia N Anatolia in Turkey? You need to if for example
if if you leave it to the people of the region, how would they call themselves here? Just just don't be shy. We
we courages kill this song right? What about Karadinis? Nazism, and they were the actual names in the
beginning of this, in the beginning of the twenty 20th century, in even Turkey, you have members of
parliament from Lazista, members of parliament from Turista, Then all of them changed to just geographical
regions, according to Anatolia. Why? Because there are political problems over there. There are some
people, political organizations, who would like to separate from the rest of the country, right? Then you need
to keep them within this country. And you you need to tell them that you are not a separate region, You're
just ease of something. Just don't forget that you belong to the mainland. Your mainland is Antonia and
you're just in the east of it. You are not in the middle of something else, OK, not in the middle of something
else. You're not something independent, separate, geographically ethnic, privileged, etcetera. So you belong
to here politically, don't forget. And that's why your name is naturally do on a do not something like Irish
name or La Dista. No, come on. Of course you are Black Sea people and that's it. It is the power of Turkish
Republic to name different geographies. And if Turkish Republic considers it as a threat to itself, it can and
indeed name several places according to political perspective for its own interests. And if you think globally
now when you're talking about US, you say US United States not farthest. If you say farthest, what the hell
are you talking about? Don't worry about Europe. Is it middle West? No, Europe is Europe. Europe is
Europe. That's it. It is not the direction because it has the power of being itself by itself. It has the power,
political power, I mean. And if you don't have this political power, you will be named as directions. OK. Did
you see what's going on there? So and after you name a certain territory with something like so from now on
you are Middle East, then OK, behave like a Middle Eastern. No. Now your place is a Middle East. You're
coming from Middle East and there are certain student types with this Middle East or with Southeastern and
holy, etcetera, OK. This power turns into knowledge. So this there is a production and reproduction over and
over again between themselves. Once I name you in a certain way, then you are supposed to be that you're
you're supposed to act according to that name. You're now labeled. You mean you. You may consider
yourself as a 20 year old painter, an artist with a with a with a funny character. OK, so you may define
yourself like like this, but imagine that you go to an Ostomus exchange to to the US. The first thing about
you will be your Middle Eastern features, characters, and all of them are mostly stereotypes about you. So
neither your artistic side nor your funny and enthusiastic part will be the point of focus in in. In this new
environment you will be considered always as as as a Middle East trade like I for example today for
example if you in the in the US general public when you are talking about Middle East, the general
perspective is the region of Islamists, war, conflict, oil and massive foreign and military aid or Middle East.
Its people are set to reject modernity and many of them are fundamentalists and who hate freedom of
speech, speech, who hate multi parallel political system, democracy, who hate women's rights, who hate
pluralism, who hate secularism, who hate short skirts, who hate dancing as a predator. OK, so these these are
some stereotypes about the middle yes, but today still. So it's not 19th century I'm talking about today. And
just from this, this one is from CIA page, according to the report. So Middle East is torn by tension and
bitterness. Hostility among ethnic, religious and traditional groups constantly threatens and attacks at times
erupts into open warfare. Rivalries among outside powers with political economy and solicit interest in the
area holds the possible to avoid conflict. The issues in the Middle East that set people and nation nations
against one and there are numerous, is complex and diverse. Some are recent, the orders of others may be
traced thousands of years into the castle. OK, so if you have the power of producing knowledge about the
other, then you define the other and this definition is something like this and just just ask yourself whether
you are fitting to this characteristic image or not. I was teaching assistant in during my PhD studies in Davis,
CA and I was kidding for a class on Middle East and at the end of the class one of the students told me that I
I asked what? What? What did you get out of this class? OK. So 1010 weeks of discussion on Middle East,
what did you get? And one of the answers was that I saw that people in the Middle East are just normal
people, OK. Are normal 10 weeks. OK, We have discussed 10 weeks Middle East and he he he realized that
Middle Eastern people are normal. Actually, it's a big achievement because I am sure that that that are we.
There is still people who have questions about the normality of people in the Middle East. Why is this so
important? Because because of these stereotypes. OK did I did I write some of my stereotypes? No. Sorry.
So if if you have this power to create dispute like among somebody else, then you actually establish a very
strong identity idea and whole sets whole a set of thoughts about the other. Mostly, but not, but mostly yes.
So in this sense, it is actually for for him. I don't blame him and it's something really good for him that he
was able to do this because it is really difficult to think, to change your mind about about other people if you
have established stereotypes and if the stereotypes were produced and introduced daily by by my media. So
if if if it's always effect with all that kind of secondary forces as well, then it's not easy for for anybody to to
to to to get out of that box that we download. So where is my What did? What did the Middle Easterns
themselves call or hub? Did they call themselves before him? This is from 19th century and a Muslim
historian of the time whose name is Andinawadi Possible. So what is possible middle of the earth and the
region he considered as the area among encircled by five rivers you face Tigris, Seihan, Jihan and Kaishu.
So the the put outs put out each day Seihan, Jihan, etcetera. So all all the today's areas he called it a 10th
century geographer. Mr. D again Mosul dunya and the center bunya. Bunya means work. Maybe that's for
you. And this century is Iraq, According to him, 12th century Hypnogensi, another scholar. It says, he said
I'll stop calling. It means again the center of all clients. And he said the center of all claps is and he said
father. So center of all claps is Urak and father the finest part of the earth that is the finest of human races In
cute and beautiful of all corners of the world could mean OK finest. So here you see he says that Badak
Urak was the center of the world. But it is not only the center of the world, it's the finest women race is
living in Badak. It's exactly the same stereotypical view. It is not. The stereotypes did not or is not only a
contemporary matter, it had nearly always been there since Adam and Eve. OK. In court signing from the
beginning of humanity, you have these stereotypes about the other Do you have Barbarians, right? Why do
we call them Barbarians? Because Greece called people who could, who could not speak Greek as
Barbarians. Why? Because they speak. Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, They don't. Greeks don't understand what
they say. Barbara, Barbara. They're not Barbarians, they are others. That kind of stereotypical way was not
the invention of the Europeans or the United States, etcetera. It had always been there since the beginning of
the United, or at least the interaction among the human communities. So here, if you consider your center
your, your sorry, your land is the center of the world, you do not put you do not leave it there. You do not
leave it just as a geographical designation. You also put something else, a value to it. What is it? The finest
human race in the middle of the world. Finest human race. And during the Abbasid calculate again the
center of the world Bada, from which OK, from Bada you have the perceptions about the West and E If your
city, your region, lies in the east of the Bada, then it is east. If your city lies in the western of Bada that it is
the West, OK, so again another guy, he said middle of the East, OK, not Middle East, but middle of the East
in the 9th century was of the measure. There is the middle of the east. According to him, it's Central Asia.
OK, if you put bother as the century that Central Asia could be the muscle mushroom, OK, so it is. It is
important in this sense neither the the Muslim cartographers, scholars, historians call their places with, with,
with, with taking somewhere else as the center. They were the powerful, political, powerful group and they
named their place, their region, as the Central. OK, this isn't the gist of the argument that I tried to put here
and all the idea yet until here was that if you have the political power, you can name an area, and it was the
case with the Middle East as well. Middle East was not called as Middle East. Then the influence of the
European powers, we were not influenced in the in in the Middle East. OK. When Middle Easterns
themselves were probable that would that was no Middle East OK, is it is it clear? So then where this
Middle East not from. So they will have an archaeology of the concept, OK And after this archaeology of
the concept, we may have a break, but I don't know how, how, how long it will be. Do you have any
questions so far before we indulge into archaeology of the concept realist? Yeah, they're going to take a
break after the archaeology of the church. But do you, do you like earlier? OK, None. So this Eastern
question there is doing an exact date where it was used to in international relations. It was the Congress of
Vienna in 1815 in which state scattered after the after Napoleon was backlashed. Their Russians first talk
about the Eastern question. They they, they try to have also an article. The decision on on the Eastern
question, they were not successful, but it it is not important for our purposes here. So the Eastern question
first used in the other Congress about the Balkan provinces, OK of the Iowas then it was bad rate that
differentiates West and E according to the western Europeans, Hungary at that time. So the east of Paraguay
is east, it goes up on to China, but Paraguay was the delineation. Of course it is not, it is not the case for
every individual, for every group, for every time. But this is this is generally the accepted place. They're
used for the east. OK, so. And for example, even Poland, Macedonia of course, and the Caucasus are
considered as the eastern question of the conflict of felon between 1831 and 40. What happened during this
time? Istanbul journalistic what was what was the major problem for Istanbul? OK, thank you. I'm happy
that Egypt is the problem. What about the Western Europeans? Why did they took interest in this Egyptian
problem as it as it as it was called, Eastern Question? The main reason was that the Kabbalah Crisis, the
Egyptian crisis was considered by the European powers so serious that it is thought that it could possibly
bring the end of Ottomans. So if 'cause the end of the empire, then how is the power vacuum going to be
filled? If you don't have Ottoman Empire in that major vast lands, then what you do with the power vacuum
that you'll create at its collapse? That's why this crisis was a really serious one, considered and followed
closely by the European powers of the time. I so I'll do this summary introduction. Let me just fix the 19th
century and then I'll go back to this summary and hopefully, OK, this is the 19th century end of the century.
Eastern question, still Eastern question, Eastern question. But now all of Eurasia, it is not only the
Mediterranean, not only Egypt, not only Balkans, not only Caucasus, but the entire Asia. When it comes to
the end of the 19th century, for example, the Americans considered the American Japanese complete as our
Eastern question. OK. And for French in 1878, 33 core problems of Eastern question as is written as first
Cosantopol, second Central Asia, Third Pacific Ocean. OK, Asia, Pacific Ocean, so French. So it starts with
Constantinople meaning the army empire and it goes Central Asia up onto the Pacific Ocean. So you're not
in the ocean, you even cross the Japan. OK then east If if they are talking about the Eastern question, it is not
Middle East, not near east, not Far East. But E encompasses all the EUR Asian areas except for the Western
Europe. OK, so here to check some summary intervention. All locals in New Zealand The eastern question
balance of power in Europe will be damaged severely if the Ottomans get gets collapsed in with with the
Egyptian crisis. This was the idea. Fast forward. The. I OK, so in English all this naming actually is also
about the not is also, but it's directly related with changing power relations and geopolitics. So when in the
beginning you were not that powerful in a region then you just name it with with unclear designations like
you said it's easy but whenever bank your power that's it gets increased and when you are more intervene in
region. When you have more closer interest within a region then you start naming it in a more clear way. I
just gave the example of the, the, the, the, the color. White for example has more than hundreds of words in
in. In the language of Eskimo. I don't know Eskimo is used in. OK, thank you. OK, so why? Because white
occupies a very central place in their life. Everybody's white for them and that's why they they differentiate
in different whites. But for the rest of the world, white has not that kind of a central place and we just say
white that it's maybe Gray, white. So very slightly different wise we have, but they have, they build more
clear concepts to differentiate in different different ones. And what happens with the Middle East is exactly
about this political development. You see the presence, political, military presence of the European nations
in the Middle East more and more. And then with this increased presence, you also see that now they have
more clear designations of the next to the to the Middle East. So then comes the name Near East. OK, first
near E, 1st Middle East. Then comes first E I'm sorry, 1st East this E then near East East in the 19th century.
For around 50 years. Between 1890 and 1940 it is near East and from the 40s to today it is Middle East. So
why it became merely basically I, I I want go into detail now. This. Is that new experience with British
imperialism at its hates and Britains have control over of different and vast areas in the in the Asian
continent. So in this British Empire, during the limits of the imperial colonial age, you have China and the
forests. Imagine yourself in London. You are deciding on geopolitical management strategies. So when
you're talking about China, so you divide your Asian lands into the three into three according to their
regions. All of them are E Then China Far East, logically, Iraq, Syria, Mediterranean, Near East, Falklands.
And just the middle part in which was which? Yeah, the time, Persia, India, Middle East, OK. If you live at
that time, let's say in the in the beginning of the 20th century and you say Middle East, everybody would
understand that you're talking about Persia and India complete, not Libya. If you would like to mention
Libya within the geographical region, you have to say that it is near Eastern country. OK. If you tell that
Libya. So I will give a presentation on Libya, which is a near eastern country. Yeah. OK. But not Middle
East. Why Middle East is Persia and Iran? Why? Because it is the middle of the British Empire in the Asia.
Clear. Thank you. So what there's a sample is not about like that for example, is that is true? OK, This is not
about that geological location politics of military competition. Yeah, it's. It's on the one hand, elliptical with
other hands. German fleds out because East Germany really is in the eastern part of Germany. Yes, it is in
the Europe. Yeah, actually, yeah, East of Germany. So everywhere has its own direction. So what is the
questions? Tell me in Turkish, the question is why East Germany is called East Germany. Do you have an
answer to satisfy the of people here or I I don't have, I don't know, I mean just to do friendship between the
West and the East? I guess so. I OK. It was also occupied by Eastern powers, Russia. But I guess it's just for
example, may we can also make it, let's say a light region or moon region like, but it's called through its
geographical direction rather than a destination within the region itself. Maybe to symbolize like the West
was occupied by the Western powers, the East was occupied by Eastern powers. Just to make it clear, this is
like the Cold War area. I mean, yeah, maybe. OK, Thank you. But but thank you for this question. These are
the questions that this course aids to make. You ask, OK, this is the Near East and then comes Middle East,
OK? Middle East emerged as a concept in the during the Second World War. When India was going away
out of the hands of the British on the one hand and on the other hand they exertion of or of the Middle East,
Middle East as a central place in the in the competition or let's say war against Germany. Oil for example,
warplanes in the war against Germany. So oil has a central place at that point because beforehand the eight
planes used or or or other or or all other word vehicles use other sources of energy, but not oil replace all of
them. The center of the oil was Middle East first, second, especially this guy between Churchill, Churchill,
the Prime Prime Minister, the British Prime Minister, Where was it? Yeah they they extensively prepared for
war in the Middle East. Okay. They prepared according to scenario. Scenario that was going to the war is
going to extend into Middle East with Germany and Italy after its alliance with the with the Germany
created a big problem for the Egyptians, for British and they tried to have a strong existence and presence in
the Middle East against the expanding German and Italian forces and they first established Middle East Air
Command. OK. In they also have what was it Middle East anyway? So other than this air command, Air
Force, they also have their troops on the land as well in many different areas in Middle East, Egypt, Sudan,
Palestine, Northern Cyprus, Somalia, again Persian Gulf, Iran and Iran. In all these places, OK, they they
consolidated all of their military commands through through commandership established in Cairo. So yeah,
basically after this war, first this war, this war and the independence of India out of the the former British
Empire and also starting with the Cold War, yeah, starting over established a different world. Now the Asia
were emptied mostly by the British and the United States. Now to the place in Asia emptied by by by the
British. And they needed area studies to exert the influence, first to understand what's going on there and
then to control the region. But all all these things will be after the break, so 15 minute.