The sancak of Amid (today known as Diyarbakır) has been ruled by the Byzantines, Arabs, Selçukids, Artukids, Ayyubids, Akkoyunlus and Ottomans. Therefore the sancak has been exposed to the cultures of these states. Thus the province had undergone a great cultural impact which can clearly be traced in the personal and place names used in the sancak. The place and personal names recorded in the 1518 Ottoman cadastral survey of the sancak of Amid are the basis of some pointers made in this article.

Tenacious and systematic attempts are being made by a number of Armenian 'scholars' to sway, especially Jewish public opinion, that there is a link between the experiences of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, which they label as 'the first genocide of the twentieth century', and those of the European Jewry during World War II. By their persistent attempts, skilful manipulation of the feelings of some Jewish and other sympathisers, and masterful use of distorted, tendencious, and even forged 'documents', they have succeeded in winning over some of those who are the real victims of the Holocaust, and a number of younger generation Jewish writers, such as Yehuda Bauer, Leo Kuper, and a few others. Is there such a parallel? Let us examine the arguments for and against before we answer this question.

As a result of the tension now existing between Israel and the Muslim world, it long has been assumed that the anti Semitism to which Jews of the Ottoman Empire were subjected over the centuries was the result of Muslim antipathy for Judaism and Jews, and that it was carried out largely by Muslims. This idea was spread by Christian nationalist groups within and outside the Ottoman Empire for the purpose of gaining the support of world Jewry for their causes. At times, moreover, these groups even stimulated Muslim attacks on their own people to gain the support of the Christian nations of Europe.

Türk ulusu, 1071'den sonra Anadolu'yu "Türk anavatanı" yapmıştır. Batılı devletler, bu tarihten sonra, Türk ulusu ve Türk anavatanı gerçeğini görmezlikten gelip; Türkleri bir gün Doğu'ya sürebiliriz hayalini kurmuş¬lardır. Bizans'ın yenilgisi, yok oluşu, Batı'yı telaşlandırmıştır. Batı, Türkler'e karşı "Haçlı Seferleri" düzenlemiş, yenilgileri ile sonuçlanan bu seferlerden sonra, Türklerin kurduğu Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'na boyun eğmiştir. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun zayıflaması ve Avrupa devletlerinin sömürgeler kurmak istemeleri yüzünden birbirlerine düşmeleri, Osmanlı toprakları üzerinde pazarlıklara başlamalarına neden oldu. Batı'lı büyük devletler, Osmanlı imparatorluğu içinde bir Türk ulusu ve onun üzerinde 900 yıl yaşadığı bir de anavatanı olduğu gerçeğini hiç hesaba katmadan görüşmeler yapıyorlar, kongreler düzenleyerek "hasta adam" ın mirasını paylaşmaya çalışıyorlardı. Türk vatanını sömürgeci güçlerden ve yabancı istilâsından kurtarmak amacıyla başlatılan "Bağımsızlık Savaşı"nın ne koşullar altında verildiğini, adım adım zafere nasıl ulaşıldığını bilmek ve araştırmak kuşkusuz ki, çok önemlidir. İncelemeye çalışacağımız "Tekâlif-i Milliye Emirleri ve Uygulanışı" araştırılmadan, "Millî Mücadele"nin nasıl gerçekleştirildiği konusu yeterince bilinemeyecek dolayısıyla da; anlam ve önemi tam olarak kavranamayacaktır.

The move of the Bulgarian Communist Government to liquidate the Muslim Turks in Bulgaria, initiated at the end of 1984 and completed in the beginning of 1985, by forcing the Turks in Bulgaria to exchange their Turkish names for Bulgarian ones, is a crime against the most elemantary principles of human rights, of world civilization and culture. By this act the Bulgarian government has committed itself to a policy of an ethnic, cultural and political genocide. Though this term has been initially used to mean physical destruction of one or another nation, in a broader sense it signifies a cultural and political extinction of a national minority.

For almost six centuries the position of the Armenian nation (millet) within the Ottoman Empire, was one of relative peace, order, security and prosperity until the genesis, in the 1870s, of the so-called "Eastern Question". The Turco-Russian war of 1877 had resulted in the abortive Treaty of San Stefano, and had brought about the signature of the Cyprus Convention and the Treaty of Berlin. These treaties were supposed to procure more privileges for the Ottoman Armenians, but they were actually intended to enable the Great Powers, in particular Britain and Russia, to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire with the hope of snatching a greater share of the spoils when the Empire ultimately collapsed.

The historical importance of the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia can never be denied; Al-Hasa may have the fame as an oasis, but Katif as part of it is of no less importance. The territory of Katif is divided from Al-Hasa province by an intervening range of hills, the most famous of which is know as Jabal Mushahhar. This hill, seven hundred feet high, falls about ten miles to the south of Katif.

Islam gave a new civilization to the Turks who were always great admirers of sciences. The last words of Sultan Osman to his son Orhan -"Be the supporter of the faith and the protector of the sciences"- was religiously observed. Turks also became faithful of those nations who had contributed in various fields of sciences and like the Arabs they have distinguished themselves in the science of geography. They have a definite stage in the history of this branch of knowledge and their contents are amazingly vast. Their effects are also far-reaching but their contributions are not well known to scholars as it should be.

Seventy years ago, in June 1916 to be precise, Sherif Hussein ibn Ali, the Hashemite amir of Mecca, having been encouraged by the British with vague promises of "independence for the Arabs", revolted against his suzerain, the Ottoman Sultan-Caliph, and became an instrument in the destruction of the Caliphate by Christian Powers. In the words of Robert Lacey, "his (Hussein's) movement was less an Arab revolt than an Anglo-Hashemite conspiracy", cemented by about one million pounds sterling in British gold.

1919 yılı sonlarında Sivas'ta kurulan "Anadolu Kadınları Müdafaa-i Vatan Cemiyeti", Millî Mücadele'deki faaliyetleri arasında zaman zaman Padişah'a, Sadrazam'a, Dahiliye Nazırı'na ve bazı kuruluşlara telgraflar çekerek yurdumuza ve milletimize karşı yapılan haksızlıkların düzeltilmesi amacıyla gerekli girişimlerde bulunulmasını istemiş, bu arada yabancı devlet başkanlarına, İstanbul'daki itilâf Devletleri temsilcilerine de protestolar göndermiştir.