Ottoman Immigrants and the Formation of Turkish Red Crescent Societies in the United States

Yıl 2015, Cilt: 20 Sayı: 1, 59 - 76, 01.04.2015

İşıl Acehan

Öz

The role of the Turkish Red Crescent Society and its humanitarian work during World War I and the Turkish War of Independence by delivering healthcare and assistance to tens of thousands of wounded or sick soldiers is well known. However, the humanitarian work of Turkish Red Crescent societies abroad, established in various locations extending from South America to the Far East, still remains an understudied subject. This article aims at exploring the Ottoman diaspora mobilization and the humanitarian role of the Turkish Red Crescent societies in the United States in the postwar reconstruction of Turkey after WWI and the Turkish War of Independence. It argues that the Turkish War of Independence witnessed a tremendous transformation of humanitarian relief work by the Ottoman government and Ottoman diaspora in the U.S. The work of the Turkish Red Crescent Societies in WWI and its aftermath is an example of humanitarian policy in the making

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ottoman Empire, United States, immigrants, the Turkish Red Crescent, humanitarian relief, World War I, the Turkish War of National Independence.

Kaynakça

• “Harput’ta Bazı Kişilerin Ermenileri Amerika’ya Göçe Teşvik Ettikleri”, 6 February 1891, in T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Osmanlı Belgelerinde Ermeni- Amerikan İliskileri (1839-1895),Vol. 1, Ankara, Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı, 2007, pp. 36-37.
• Suraiya Faroqhi et al., An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Vol. 2, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 792.
• Faroz Ahmad, “The Young Turk Revolution”, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol.3, No.3 (July 1968), p. 22.
• “Turkish Funds Raised”, The Salem evening News, 18 August 1925.
• Şebnem Koşer Akçapar, “Turkish Associations in the United States: Towards Building a National Identitiy”, in Şebnem Koşer Akçapar (ed.), Turkish Immigrants in Western Europe and North America: Immigration and Political Mobilization, London, Routledge, 2012, p. 37.
• Tunç Umay, “Babam Fuad Umay”, Bütün Dünya, No. 4 (2005), pp.29-31.
• Frank Ahmed, Turks in America: The Ottoman Turk’s Immigrant Experience, Columbia, Columbia International, 1993, p. 59. 30 Ibid., p. 59.
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, “Humanitarian Diplomacy Policy”, at http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/humanitarian-diplomacy/ humanitarian-diplomacy-policy/ (last visited 25 May 2015).