An Imperial Traveler: Mark Sykes and His Impressions in the Middle East through His Article and Notes in the Late 19th Century

Year 2021, , 173 - 194, 15.02.2021

Özge Aslanmirza

https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.739895

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore Mark Sykes’s experiences as a traveler and how they shaped his attitude towards Britain and the Middle East. Renowned for his contribution to the partition of the Ottoman Empire via the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, this study examines his early observations of the Middle East and his relation to the political agenda of Ottoman-British relations. Sykes’s private notes and his publications will be compared for differences enabling us to discern how his two texts reveal his Orientalist mindset and early impressions of the Middle East. With reference to archival sources, this study helps us to understand how Sykes’s opinions developed and were formative in the political agenda of the Middle East.

Keywords

Mark Sykes, British-Ottoman relations, Travelling, Orientalism, Middle East

Bir İmparatorluk Seyyahı: On Dokuzuncu Yüzyıl Sonlarına Ait Makaleleri ve Notları Işığında Mark Sykes’ın Ortadoğu İzlenimleri

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı Mark Sykes’ın seyyah olarak deneyimlerini ve bunların Britanya ve Ortadoğu’ya yönelik tutumunu nasıl şekillendirdiğini incelemek, 1916 tarihli Sykes-Picot Antlaşması’yla Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun bölünmesindeki rolüyle bilinen Sykes’ın Ortadoğu’ya dair ilk gözlemlerini ve Osmanlı-İngiliz ilişkileriyle bağı ortaya koymaktır. Bu amaçla Sykes’ın kişisel notları ve yayınları içerdikleri farklar karşılaştırılacak, böylece farklı metinlerinde Sykes’ın Oryantalist düşünce yapısı ve Ortadoğu’ya dair ilk izlenimlerini nasıl belirdiğini kavramak mümkün olacaktır. Arşiv kaynaklarından da yararlanan bu çalışma, Sykes’ın fikirlerinin nasıl geliştiğini ve Ortadoğu’nun siyasi gündemini ne tür bir biçimlendirici rol oynadığını anlamamıza yardımcı olacaktır

Keywords

Mark Sykes, İngiliz-Osmanlı ilişkileri, seyahat, Oryantalizm, Ortadoğu

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