The Modernity of Interwar Turkey through the Eyes of Yugoslav Travelers (1923–1939)

What is it about?

The modernization efforts of the early Republic of Turkey were a recurrent theme of books and newspaper articles written by interwar Yugoslav travelers in Turkey. Their views on Turkish modernity were based on a dichotomy between the “old,” “traditional,” and “backward” Ottoman Empire and the “new,” “modern,” and “revolutionary” Turkish Republic. Their comments reveal the Yugoslav public’s self-perception: in their eyes, through its reforms, Turkey was becoming similar to Western European countries, and had reached or even surpassed the civilizational level of Yugoslavia. Thus, the Yugoslav perception of Turks as Europe’s “Other” had changed for the better.

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Why is it important?

The modernization efforts of the early Republic of Turkey were a recurrent theme of books and newspaper articles written by interwar Yugoslav travelers in Turkey. Their views on Turkish modernity were based on a dichotomy between the “old,” “traditional,” and “backward” Ottoman Empire and the “new,” “modern,” and “revolutionary” Turkish Republic. Their comments reveal the Yugoslav public’s self-perception: in their eyes, through its reforms, Turkey was becoming similar to Western European countries, and had reached or even surpassed the civilizational level of Yugoslavia. Thus, the Yugoslav perception of Turks as Europe’s “Other” had changed for the better.

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