Russian Turkology: From Past to Present

Abstract

Turkology is one of the oldest and most developed branches of Russian Oriental studies. The peculiarities of Russian-Turkish relations and Russia’s consequent close interest in the Ottoman Empire and subsequently in the Republic of Turkey has determined this fact. This article provides detailed information about the historical development of Ottoman and Turkish studies in Russia in Tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Institutional developments, personalities, and major trends of the scholarly studies on Turkey are studied with special focus on the field of Turkish history studies. This article shows how the development of Ottoman and Turkish studies was connected to the changes in Russian-Turkish relations and to the phases of the development of Russian Oriental studies.

Keywords

• Russian Oriental Studies, Soviet Oriental Studies, Ottoman Studies, Turkish Studies, Russian-Turkish Relations