World Bulletin / News Desk

Published by Islamic History, Art and Culture Research Center (IRCICA), 2-volume source book "The Ottoman State and the History of Civilizations" has been translated into Albanian with the support of Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA).

The work is printed 2 thousand cpies.

The book, used as the textbook in several universities and drawn interest by natives and foreigners, was promoted in a meeting in Albanian capital of Tirana.

Head of IRCICA Dr. Halit Eren, Tirana coordinator Dr. Ali Ozgun Ozturk, head of the AIITC Dr. Ramiz Zekaj and the historians who contributed the publishment of the book.

This work vontains information about the Ottoman State and Civilization. The publication of this work aims to provide hitherto unknown aspects of relations between the Balkans, Albania and the Ottoman Empire to researchers as the source of a scientific application.

It also aims to introduce civilization and culture of the Ottoman Empire, and is to be precluded inaccurate information that is produced by some about the Ottoman history.

İn doing so, this work will strengthen the ties between Albania and Turkish people, and provide information about two nations' history and culture to each other.

Also, The Organisation of Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, renowned Turkish scientists and Ottoman historians Ilber Ortayli, Feridun Emecen, Kemal Beydilli and Halil Inalcik are among the writers of the boo, especially in the parts of the consistence of Otoman State.

This collective work is the first volume of a comprehensive survey which covers the six hundred year-old history of the Ottoman state and civilisation from the formation of the Ottoman principality until the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Volume One comprises articles titled "From the Founding to Küçük Kaynarca", "From Küçük Kaynarca to the Collapse", "Ottoman State Organization", "Administrative Organization during the Tanzimat Period", "Ottoman Military Establishment", "The Ottoman Legal System", "Ottoman Society", "The Structure of the Ottoman Economy".

Volume Two includes articles titled "Ottoman Turkish", "Turkish Literature in Anatolia", "Turkish Literature during the Period of Westernization", "An Exploration into Intellectual Life during the Period of Westernization", "The Literature of Muslim Peoples in Europe during the Ottoman Period", "Aspects of Intellectual Life in the Arab Provinces during the Ottoman Period", "Ottoman Educational and Scholarly-Scientific Institutions", "The Ottoman Scientific-Scholarly Literature", "Art and Architecture", "The Art of Calligraphy in the Ottoman Empire", "The Art of Illumination in the Ottoman Empire".

This book is a product of the large-scale research project of IRCICA titled "History of Muslim Nations". It aims to give an objective account of the history of the Ottoman state and civilisation on the basis of the Ottoman archival sources, chronicles, and works by contemporary Western and Turkish scholars. The work includes 250 photographs.

The Ottoman Turks expanded their rule from Anatolia to the Balkans in the 14th century. They crossed the Bosporus in 1352, and in 1389 they beated a Serb-led army that included Albanian forces in the Battle of Kosovo.

Many important Albanian figures impacted the flow of Ottoman history. One of the most important poet in last period of Ottoman State, national poet of Turkish Republic, Mehmed Akif Ersoy was also Albanian.

IRCICA published the book in Turkish, English, Arabic and also Bosnian editions.

The Bosnian edition, produced with the cooperation of the Oriental Institute in Sarajevo, is fourth with respect to language. It is a big, single volume containing the majority of the chapters of the original edition.