Cultural sovereignty in the Balkans and Turkey: The politics of preservation and rehabilitation

Abstract

This article explores preservation and restoration projects in the Balkans and Turkey in light of current Turkish and American foreign policy initiatives. Of specific interest are the political goals of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) and the United States Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. The focus on the rehabilitation of Islamic heritage in the Balkans by the Republic of Turkey illustrates a strategic decision to weave cultural heritage programs into foreign policy as part of a larger agenda to increase its presence (and thus influence) abroad, notably under the arc of former Ottoman territories. This targeted approach in the Balkans differs in critical ways from the rhetoric of the United States and their partners in Europe and Turkey, which promote idealized notions of diversity, pluralism, and tolerance through a mosaic of heritage projects (Islamic, Jewish, Christian, museum displays, archaeological research, etc.). The Ambassadors Fund projects are staged in moral terms as part of reconciliation and EU integration. These patterns demonstrate the ability of cultural heritage projects to affect symbolic geographies of power; in so doing, heritage programs continue to offer viable and successful platforms in shaping claims of cultural sovereignty beyond the boundaries of nation-states.

Keywords

Balkans cultural policy development heritage İzmir Sandžak sovereignty Turkey

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ada

İnce

(2009) Introduction to Cultural Policy in Turkey, Istanbul: Bilgi University.

Aigner

(2011) Albania Mid-Term Evaluation: Culture and Development, Albania: Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund.

Armakolas I (2012) Mostar: Heritage reconstruction in a divided city. Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict (CRIC) Research Project. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Cz6UzwDrg (accessed 10 January 2013).

Ascough

(2005) Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Atakuman

(2010) Value of heritage in Turkey: History and politics of Turkey’s world heritage nominations. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 23(1): 107–132.

Bakic-Hayden

Hayden

(1992) Orientalist variations on the theme ‘Balkans’: Symbolic geography in recent Yugoslav cultural politics. Slavic Review 51(1): 1–15.

Barthel

(1996) Historic Preservation: Collective Memory and Historical Identity, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Bonz

(1990) The Jewish community of Ancient Sardis: A reassessment of its rise to prominence. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 93: 343–359.

Bonz

(1993) Differing approaches to religious benefaction: The late third-century acquisition of the Sardis Synagogue. Harvard Theological Review 86(2): 139–154.

10.

Brink-Danan

(2010) Counting as European: Jews and the politics of presence in Istanbul. In: Göktürk

Soysal

Türeli

(eds) Orienting Istanbul: Cultural Capital of Europe, New York: Routledge, pp. 279–295.

11.

Council of Europe (2010) Assessment – Bosnia and Herzegovina. Intermediary Impact Report. Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/cooperation/see/countries/Impact/Impact_Assessment_BOSNIAANDHERZEGOVINA.pdf.

12.

Council of Europe/ERICarts (n.d.) Compendium: Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe. Available at: http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/index.php (accessed 29 April 2013).

13.

De Cesari

(2010) Creative heritage: Palestinian heritage NGOs and defiant arts of government. American Anthropologist 112(4): 625–637.

14.

De Cesari C (2011) World heritage and national sovereignty: On Palestine’s UNESCO bid. Lieden-Stanford Heritage Network. Available at: http://www.networkedheritage.org/2011/12/06/world-heritage-and-national-sovereignty-on-palestine%e2%80%99s-unesco-bid/ (accessed 9 January 2012).

15.

Derviş

Gros

Emerson

Ulgen

(2004) The European Transformation of Modern Turkey, Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies.

16.

Directorate of Pious Foundations (2009) Stratejik Planı 2010–2014 [Strategic plan], Ankara: T.C. Başbakanlık Vakıflar Genel Müdürdlüğü.

17.

Donia

Fine

(1994) Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Tradition Betrayed, New York: Columbia University Press.

18.

Duda

(2011) The Islamic community in Serbia – the Sandžak case. In: Górak-Sosnowska

(eds) Muslims in Poland and Eastern Europe. Widening the European Discourse on Islam, Warsaw: Zaklad Graficzny Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, pp. 327–335.

19.

Dumont

(1982) Jewish communities in Turkey during the last decade of the nineteenth century in the light of the archives of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In: Braude

Lewis

(eds) Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire Vol. 1, Teaneck, NJ: Holmes and Meier, pp. 209–242.

20.

Epstein

(1980) The Ottoman Jewish Communities and their Role in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Freiburg: K Schwarz.

21.

European Commission (2004) Serbia and Montenegro (Serbia). Integrated Rehabilitation Project Plan/ Survey of the Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IRPP/SAAH). Council of Europe Joint Programme.

22.

Hayden

(2002) Antagonistic tolerance: Competitive sharing of religious sites in South Asia and the Balkans. Current Anthropology 43(2): 205–231.

23.

Hayden RM (2012) From Yugoslavia to the Western Balkans: Studies of a European Disunion, 1991–2011. Balkan Studies Library, Vol. 7. Leiden: Brill.

24.

Herzfeld

(2009) Evicted from Eternity: The Restructuring of Modern Rome, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

25.

Herzfeld

(2010) Engagement, gentrification, and the neoliberal hijacking of history. Current Anthropology. Special issue on Engaged Anthropology. Diversity and Dilemmas 51(S2): S259–S267.

26.

Kaya J (2010) Letter from President of Izmir Jewish Community, 2 December, to Embassy of the United States of America in Ankara, Turkey, in support of the Ambassadors Fund.

27.

Kurtoǧlu M (ed) (2012) Balkanlarda Osmanlı Vakıfları ve Eserleri Uluslararası Sempozyumu. [International Symposium on Ottoman Foundations and Works in the Balkans]. Vakflar Genel Müdürlüǧü Yayınları. No. 107. Ankara.

28.

Kiel

(1990) Studies on the Ottoman Architecture of the Balkans, Farnham: Variorum.

29.

Krishnamurthy

(2012) ‘Memory and forum’: An exploration of the Stari Most, Mostar (BIH). Journal of Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe 11(4): 81–102.

30.

Levi EA (2010) Letter from Head of Department of Architecture, Dokuz Eylül University, 4 December, to US Embassy of the United States of American in Ankara, Turkey, in support of Ambassadors Fund.

31.

Levy

(2002) The siege of Edirne (1912–1913) as seen by a Jewish eyewitness: Social, political, and cultural perspectives. In: Levy (eds) Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth through the Twentieth Century, New York: Syracuse University Press, pp. 153–193.

32.

Luke

Kersel

(2012) US Archaeology and Cultural Diplomacy: Smart Power, Hard Heritage, New York: Routledge.

33.

Merdjanova

(2013) Rediscovering the Umma: Muslims in the Balkans between Nationalism and Transnationalism, New York: Oxford University Press.

34.

Meskell

(2012) The rush to inscribe: Reflections on the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO Paris (2011). Journal of Field Archaeology 37(2): 145–151.

35.

Mills

(2010) Streets of Memory: Landscape, Tolerance, and National Identity in Istanbul, Athens: University of Georgia Press.

36.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism (2007) Tourism Strategy of Turkey ∼ 2023, Ankara: Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

37.

Mitchell

(2002) Rules of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity, Los Angeles: University of California Press.

38.

National Geographic Traveler (2010) The Western Balkans: Land of Discovery. 46 Outstanding Ways to Experience Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. A National Geographic Traveler and USAID special supplement.

39.

Newland K and Taylor C (2010) Heritage Tourism and Nostalgia Trade: A Diaspora Niche in the Development Landscape. Migrants, Migration and Development Program, Migration Policy Institute. USAID. Available at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/index.html (accessed 10 August 2012).

40.

Özkan

Demirtepe

(2012) Transformation of a development aid agency: TİKA in a changing domestic and international setting. Turkish Studies 13(4): 647–664.

41.

Palmer

(2009) Preface. In: Heritage and Beyond, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

42.

Petrović

(2011) Policy Paper: Turkey in the Western Balkans: Goals and Means of the New Foreign Policy, Belgrade: International and Security Affairs Centre, Serbia.

43.

Petrović

Reljić

(2011) Turkish interests and involvement in the Western Balkans: A score-card. Insight Turkey 13(3): 159–172.

44.

Pulhan

(2009) Cultural heritage reconsidered in the light of recent cultural policies. In: Ada

İnce

(eds) Introduction to Cultural Policy in Turkey, Istanbul: Bilgi University, pp. 191–212.

45.

Quandt

(2002) The Changing Landscape in Eastern Europe: A Personal Perspective on Philanthropy and Technology Transfer, New York: Oxford University Press.

46.

Ricciardone FJ (2010) Testimony of Ambassador-Designate to the Republic of Turkey, 20 July. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

47.

Saraçoğlu

(2010) The middle-class perception of Kurdish migrants in Turkish cities: The changing image of the Kurds in Turkey. Patterns of Prejudice 44(3): 239–250.

48.

Singh

(2010) Cultural policy and the political nature of culture. In: Singh

(eds) International Cultural Policies and Power, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 19–28.

49.

Stubbs

Makaš

(2011) Architectural Conservation in Europe and the Americas, London: John Wiley.

50.

Tanyeri-Erdemir

(2006) Archaeology as a source of national pride in the early years of the Turkish Republic. Journal of Field Archaeology 31: 381–393.

51.

Tartan H (2010) Letter from Konak Mayor and Izmir Museums Unity Honorary President to Embassy of the United States of America in Ankara, Turkey, in support of Ambassadors Fund.

52.

Taşpınar

(2009) Obama’s Turkey policy: Bringing credibility to strategic partnership. Insight Turkey 11(1): 13–21.

53.

Travers R (2012) Final Evaluation: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Cultural and Development. MDG Achievement Fund.

54.

Tunbridge

Ashworth

(1996) Dissonant Heritage: The Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict, London: John Wiley.

55.

Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013) Synopsis of the Turkish Foreign Policy. Available at: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/synopsis-of-the-turkish-foreign-policy.en.mfa (accessed 29 April 2013).

56.

Turkish General Directorate of Pious Foundations (2013) Available at: http://www.vgm.gov.tr (accessed 10 March 2013).

57.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2002) 2001–2002 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

58.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2003) 2002–2003 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

59.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2004) 2003–2004 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

60.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2005) 2004–2005 Annual Report. Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

61.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2006) 2005–2006 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

62.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2007) 2006–2007 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

63.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2008) 2007–2008 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

64.

US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2009) 2008–2009 Annual Report, Washington, DC: Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

65.

USAID (2006) An Analysis of Sarajevo, Herzegovina and Krajina Tourism Regions and Recommendations for Product Development, Marketing and Destination Management, Cheshire: Emerging Markets Group.

66.

USAID (2007) Bosnia-Herzegovina. Quarterly Newsletter. United States Agency for International Development.

67.

USAID Serbia (2011) Novi Pazar journalists build cultural bridges: Presenting cultural and religious treasures to promote tolerance. Available at: http://serbia.usaid.gov/program-updates/success-stories.590.html (accessed 15 December 2012).

68.

US Council on Foreign Relations (2012) U.S.–Turkey Relations: A New Partnership. Independent Task Force Report No. 69, Washington, DC: US Council on Foreign Relations.

69.

US Department of State (n.d.) Balkans region. Available at: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/balkans (accessed 29 April 2013).

70.

US Embassy Turkey (2011) Ambassador Ricciardone highlights growing US–Turkey trade relations in Izmir, 21 October. Available at: http://turkey.usembassy.gov/amb_ricciardone_102111.html (accessed 29 April 2013).

71.

World Monuments Fund (2004) Central Izmir Synagogues. Available at: http://www.wmf.org/project/central-izmir-synagogues (accessed 29 April 2013).