Balkan History

Tamara Scheer, Two Crumbling Empires – One Balkan Region: Ottoman Empire’s and Austro-Hungary’s Presence in Sandzak Novi Pazar/Plevlje, 1879-1908, in: Harold E. Raugh (ed.), End of Empires: Challenges to Security and Statehood in Flux. Bucharest 2010, 13-28.
Open access: https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/reviste/carte/ISPAIM/End-of-empires-challenges-security-statehood-flux_2010.pdf

Bu çalışma, hanedan dışı iki yönetici olan Konstantin Tih Asen (1257-1277) ve İvaylo (1277-1280) dönemlerinde Bulgar-Bizans ilişkilerini meşruiyet krizi ve diplomatik stratejiler bağlamında incelemektedir. Üsküp Valisi olan Konstantin Tih'in tahta çıkışı, Asen hanedanı dışında bir yöneticinin boyarların desteğiyle iktidara gelmesi bakımından dikkat çekicidir. Konstantin Tih Asen dönemi, İkinci Bulgar Devleti'nin Bizans İmparatorluğu ile ilişkilerinin karmaşık ve dinamik seyir izlediği bir dönemdir. Bu dönemde, Bulgaristan'ın siyasi ve askeri konumu, Bizans'ın iç çalkantıları ve bölgesel güç mücadeleleriyle şekillenmiştir. Meşruiyetini güçlendirmek için hanedan evliliklerine ve Bizans karşıtı ittifaklara başvurmuş, ancak Altın Orda, Macarlar ve Bizans karşısında kalıcı bir başarı sağlayamamıştır. İvaylo'nun köylü tabanlı hareketi ise ekonomik baskılar, feodal parçalanma ve Tatar istilalarının yarattığı kriz ortamında yükselmiş; hanedan dışı ikinci yönetim deneyimi olarak siyasi düzende önemli bir kırılma noktası oluşturmuştur. Bu dönemde Bizans, diplomatik müdahalelerle Bulgaristan'daki taht mücadelelerini yönlendirmiş ve Balkan siyasetinde belirleyici rolünü sürdürmüştür. Çalışma, hanedan dışı yönetimlerin sınırlılıklarını, meşruiyet arayışlarının diplomasiye nasıl yansıdığını ve toplumsal hareketlerin devlet yapısını nasıl dönüştürdüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Böylece Konstantin Tih Asen ve İvaylo dönemleri, yalnızca Bulgar-Bizans ilişkileri bağlamında değil, aynı zamanda Ortaçağ Balkan siyasetindeki kırılgan güç dengelerinin anlaşılması açısından da kritik öneme sahiptir.

Faced with the failure to change our Constitution, at the beginning of March 2023, numerous top SDSM politicians began to inappropriately blurt out that by including the Bulgarians in our Constitution, we would have actually proven that we are talking about two different peoples! This is hard to believe. You have certainly not heard greater nonsense in a long time. Without any shame, they lie massively and mercilessly. In other words, this undermines the Bulgarian historical acts of ignoring the Macedonians and the Bulgarian claims that Macedonians do not exist!? In our Constitution, so to speak, there will be both the Macedonian and Bulgarian peoples. What a substitution of theses! Our wise men, do you understand that we are not denying the Bulgarian people, but the Bulgarians are denying the Macedonian people! If we did not recognize the Bulgarians and considered them Macedonians (which is closer to the truth!), their inclusion in our Constitution would really have the dimension of correcting such misery. The problem with the Bulgarians ignoring the Macedonians, however, would be overcome only if Bulgaria included the Macedonians from Pirin in their Constitution. And what is the possibility of that? Let everyone assess for themselves. Especially when Macedonia is unwilling to open that issue, on the basis of reciprocity, which is key and foundational in diplomacy. And, on top of that, we are also ignoring the implementation of 14 judgments by the Court of Human Rights, which are in favour of the Macedonians in Bulgaria. Only in this way will it be confirmed that we

Рад испитује Радовићева обраћања Београду у широко захваћеном традицијском контексту, било да је реч о рефлексима паремије, схваћене не само као пословице и изреке већ као хетерогена (под)група фразеологизама који указују на бројне социокултурне и историјске мене кроз које пролази заједница у којој настају и преносе се и чији су предмет широко захваћене разнолике сфере човековог живота и искуства; било о прихватању или одбијању предства и норми традиционалне културе, било о односу према традицијском низу српске књижевности. Вредносни систем на којем почивају Радовићеве минијатуре често се обликује аналогно српској социјалној и културној традицији, али и као непосредна или посредна полемика с њом. То посебно важи за оцртавање породичних односа, моралних норми и начина живота некад и сад. Тако Радовић вредносни систем властитог времена често сагледава као порицање – добро или лоше – традиционалних вредности. Притом, показује се да Душан Радовић није a priori ни „традиционалиста“ ни „модерниста“, већ човек који, у највећој мери, мисли својом главом. Ово разматрање, сматрамо, додатно указује на вредносна полазишта Радовићевог стваралаштва уопште.

Намера овог рада јесте анализа изворних вести о боравцима византијских царева у Нишу током средњег века. У фокусу истраживања је историјски период након словенског заузимања града почетком 7. века, све до окончања византијске власти крајем 12. века. Посете византијских царева Нишу по правилу су биле условљене ратним кампањама против угарског или српског противника. Имајући у виду стратешки положај Ниша као једног од значајнијих комуникационих центара средишњег Балкана, ови проласци се са приличном вероватноћом могу претпоставити и у случајевима када о њима не постоје директна сведочанства у изворима. Прегледом писане изворне грађе, рад настоји да попише византијске цареве за које се са већом или мањом извесношћу може установити да су макар кратко време боравили у граду.

Sa zadovoljstvom dijelim prijevod svog rada „Oživljavanje jedne srednjovjekovne monarhije: Kraljica Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić i Srednjovjekovni bosanski grad Dubrovnik“. Ovaj rad predstavlja proširenu verziju mog izlaganja na 61. Međunarodnom kongresu srednjovjekovnih studija (International Congress on Medieval Studies – ICMS).
Maj 2026. godine; Kalamazo, Michigan, SAD.

Oslanjajući se na moje istorijske romane: Majka kraljica Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić i Dubrovnik, grad nabožićki, rad istražuje ulogu književne rekonstrukcije u očuvanju i oživljavanju kulturnog pamćenja srednjovjekovne Bosne.

Bila mi je čast učestvovati u ovoj sesiji zajedno sa profesorom Michaelom R. Evansom, dr. Laurom Biagi i dr. Carlom B. Sellom, pod predsjedavanjem dr. Helene Schwing.

Iskreno zahvaljujem organizatorima ICMS-a na prilici da predstavim ovo istraživanje i da razmijenim ideje s tako uglednom međunarodnom zajednicom proučavalaca srednjeg vijeka.

This article challenges the hypothesis, accepted by the overwhelming majority of historians and linguists, that the toponym Transylvania is the Latin translation of the original Hungarian term, Erdély. Although the terms are semantically equivalent, we will attempt to show that Erdély, an isolated example in Hungarian, was not the original, but rather a calque that appeared in specific historical circumstances. The consolidation of the toponyms took about four centuries. Both terms, Latin and Hungarian, are translations (calques) of a Slavic form Zagor(i)a, formed with the prefix za-'beyond, across' and gora 'mountain, hill, woods, forest'.

The goal of General Dragoljub Draža Mihailović and his royalist Chetniks was the restoration of the prewar socio-political order and monarchy in Yugoslavia-the status quo ante bellum Actual truth: Basically, this claim, i.e., communist propaganda-psychological platitude, is incorrect, but it was of primary importance for the communists in their psychological-propaganda war against the old regime of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. This regime was presented in propaganda as socially unjust, economically exploitative, nationally Greater Serbian, and morally rotten, so that all political movements and social forces that would advocate and fight for the restoration of this system ad hoc should be condemned to failure by the majority of the people. On the other hand, in addition to the formal struggle for the liberation of the country from the foreign occupier, the political commissars with their assistants in the partisan units as well as the entire Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) platitudely propagated to the people a paradise on earth in every respect in the event of their coming to power, and as a sine qua non for such general progress a radical change of the old regime was required, i.e., in fact, its comprehensive replacement with a completely new one that would be, above all, supposedly just, progressive, efficient, and prosperous. So, the communists offered the people something new instead of the already tried and tested old one. That the old regime was far from ideal was true, but that the new communist regime would be any better than the old one remained to be seen, i.e., felt.

Just as the constitutional identities of all countries represent a collection of historical facts, events, and occurrences related to the construction and development of the nation, so too does the Macedonian Constitutional Identity have its historical and contemporary content, reflecting the development of the state in a social, systemic, and institutional sense of the word. This is why it is considered that today’s Macedonian Constitutional Identity is a reflection of the past and present, aimed at shaping the future of the state. Generally speaking, contemporary Macedonian Constitutional Identity refers to the set of fundamental principles and values that define the political, legal, and cultural framework of the country, as laid out in its 1991 Constitution. However, the constitutional identity of the state has its roots at the very beginnings of the constitutional development of the country, more specifically in the constitutive decisions of the First Session of ASNOM adopted on August 2nd 1944. These decisions are the inspiration and philosophy behind the first Constitution of the People’s Republic of Macedonia from December 31st, 1946, the second Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from 1963, and the last Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from 1974, when Macedonia was part of the Yugoslav federation. This means that Macedonian Constitutional Identity refers to a complex and evolving concept that balances the recognition of historical legacies with new democratic principles that are part of the independent Macedonian legal system following the adoption of the 1991 Constitution, with its own nation’s distinctiveness, sovereignty, and democratic governance. It reflects the country’s commitment to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, as well as its unique cultural and historical legacy. The 1991 Constitution guarantees that the Macedonian legal system and governance are based on the separation of powers, ensuring the independence of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. A key defined feature of Macedonian Constitutional Identity is the recognition of the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity, acknowledging the existence of various minorities in the country, including Albanians, Turks, Roma, Serbs, and others, and providing their rights and participation in the political process. This inclusiveness is particularly reflected in the protection of the languages, cultures, and traditions of the country’s ethnic minorities, which make up part of the Macedonian Constitutional and National Identity.
KEY WORDS: Identity,  Constitution,  History,  Culture,  Development,  Ethnicity, Challenges

I have long been fascinated by the siege of Vienna of 1683, an event that has held my attention as both a military drama and a turning point whose consequences far outran the single day on which it was decided. I undertook this project in order to examine it with the seriousness it deserves, drawing on both the primary record-the Ottoman, Habsburg, Polish and Crimean sources that preserve the campaign from within-and the secondary literature that has interpreted

The article is part of the project devoted to the research of the monastery church of Mateič. In regard to the newly identified figure of Theoktistos, it provides an insight into the images of this significant political figure from the Rhomain 9th Century in the illustrated copy of the Madrid Skylitzes and analysis of differences with the one in Mateič. It also probes whether there were more depictions of him in the Madrid manuscript and the copy of the Vatican Manasses.

This study investigates Ottoman mobility and socioeconomic networks across the Mediterranean during the long turn of the nineteenth century, drawing on a newly compiled dataset from Viennese archival registers (1823-1825) documenting thousands of individuals between 1772 and 1826. Although originally created for Habsburg administrative purposes, the registers reveal Ottoman actors such as merchants, dragomans, consuls, officials, soldiers, and travelers circulating widely across the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, North African ports, and inland territories, linking Mediterranean hinterlands to cities such as London, St. Petersburg, and eastern Anatolia. These movements extended the reach of Mediterranean interactions far beyond maritime routes, encompassing diverse continental regions and political entities, and demonstrating how the Mediterranean functioned as a densely interconnected space whose influence penetrated deep into inland territories. The study highlights how mobility facilitated cross-cultural encounters among multiple religious and ethnic groups-including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and other communities-while supporting overlapping commercial, diplomatic, and informal networks. By situating Ottoman actors within these transregional circuits, the study demonstrates how mobility shaped political, economic, and intercommunal dynamics, presenting the Mediterranean as an arena of exchange, negotiation, and entangled relations that transcends simple coastal and ethno-religious boundaries.

In the context of achievements in the social sciences and humanities in the study of a not only
negative historical past of the aristocracy, inspiring intellectual commitments to deepen the
understanding and comprehension of the processes and phenomena of the 19th century, which
changed the world, and whose legacy remains difficult to assimilate even today, the current
round table seeks to fill gaps in studies of the Balkans, turning its attention to the importance of
classes that have long shaped its history: the aristocrats and the meritocrats. Given that the
Balkans and the Black Sea region have historically functioned as a crossroads of empires,
cultures and political models, where the concepts of hereditary power (aristocracy) and
belonging to the elite based on personal merit and abilities (meritocracy) constantly intertwine,
predetermine and interact, the organizers of this conference have the ambition to encourage,
among others, discussions in search of answers to the question: To what extent do contemporary
societies in the region succeed in building working meritocratic systems or rather reproduce new
forms of closed, privileged elites?

Povijest pčela započinje duboko u prošlost te brojni arheološki nalazi svjedoče o pčelarstvu kao jednoj od
najstarijih grana poljoprivrede. Med kao najpoznatiji pčelinji proizvod se u prošlosti nalazio iza voska, koji je imao veću
vrijednost sve do kraja XIX. st. Na području plodnih područja Egipta i Mezopotamije, otkriveni su jedni od najranijih arhe-
oloških dokaza o uzgoju pčela od strane pčelara i uporabe pčelinjih proizvoda. Med se najprije sakupljao iz »prirodnih«
košnica u okolišu, najčešće na području plodnih riječnih dolina. Od samih početaka ljudske djelatnosti, stanovništvo je znalo
o učincima meda na ljudsko zdravlje. Na području Starog Istoka poznata su pojedina područja po uzgoju pčela, od
Palestine, gdje je pojam »med i mlijeko« označavao biblijsko blagostanje, preko Sirije sve do cjelokupnog područja
Mediterana. Stari Grci i Rimljani bavili su se pčelarstvom, odakle se proširuje u naše krajeve. U osamnaestome
stoljeću, carica Marija Terezija objavljuje »Patent o pčelarstvu« s auputama za buduće pčelare iz 1775., koji je
vrijedio za područja koja su bila pod Habsburškom monarhijom, među kojima se nalazila i Hrvatska. O važnosti
pčelarstva govore i jadranski srednjovjekovni komunalni statuti koji su vodili skrb o pčelarstvu, od zaštite pčela i
košnica do prodaje i davanja/oslobađanja poreza. Pojedini srednjovjekovni komunalni statuti u Hrvatskoj reguli-
raju držanje pčela o ćemu će više biti navedeno u samome radu.

Na području plodnih rijeka kao što su rijeka Nil te Mezopotamije, pronađeni su neki od najstarijih
dokaza o ljudskome uzgoju pčela i korištenja pčelinjih proizvoda. Prvi su ljudi isprva med
sakupljali iz divljih košnica koje su se mogle pronaći na području plodnih riječnih dolina, da bi
se kasnije i sami okušali u njihovu uzgoju. Već od najranijih razdoblja ljudi su spoznali, kako je
med hranjih, zdrav i ljekovit te je smatra jednim od najvećih darova koje je priroda podarila
čovjeku, stoga je med postao jednim od najpoželjnijih luksuznih proizvoda. Upravo je motiv
ekskluzivnosti vezan uz med u najranijim razdobljima ljudske povijesti te su samo oni najbogatiji
ili najmoćniji imali mogućnost konzumacije istoga. Kako su se ljudska društva razvijala i kako
su nastajale prve države, pčele su se počele uzgajati pod upravom centralne vlasti i lokalnih
moćnika. Na području egipatske države pčelarstvo će se postaviti kao jedno od najvažnijih
zanimanja. Nadalje, vrlo rano se spoznalo kako med ima brojna ljekovita svojstva te je stoga
smatran jednim od najvažnijih pripravaka za borbu protiv brojnih bolesti. Uz med, stari narodi
su se naveliko koristili i pčelinjim voskom, kojemu su pripisivali brojna magična svojstva. U
ovome će se radu stoga govoriti o pčelarstvu u razdoblju stare povijesti na području Egipta,
uključujući doba grčke i rimske okupacije. Pritom će se najviše pažnje posvetiti pčelarskim
metodama, alatima, proizvodima te ekonomskoj, društvenoj, medicinskoj i magijskoj ulozi koju
je med i pčelinji vosak nekoć imao. Također, kroz rad će se izdvojiti i značajna religijska uloga
pčela (i njihovih proizvoda) te njihova simbolika koju su imali u religijskom i društvenom životu
starih Egipćana.

From the 18th century until 1829, Russia persistently exerted pressure on the Danube frontier through successive wars with the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the century, the occupation of the fortresses of Ochakiv and Budjak enabled Russia to advance closer to the Danube from the north. The Treaty of Bucharest in 1812 granted Russia limited rights over the river, marking the beginning of the Ottomans’ erosion of full control over the Danube. The Ottoman defeat in the war of 1828-1829 resulted in the transfer of the Danube islands and the formal recognition of the river as a boundary. Under the Treaty of Adrianople, a boundary protocol (hududnâme) was jointly prepared in 1830 to define the new borders between Ottoman, Russian, Wallachian, and Moldavian territories along the Danube. This study aims to analyse and critically assess the boundary arrangements in 1830 and the protocol text itself. Despite its significance, this document has not been examined in detail in the existing literature. Accordingly, the defined borders are evaluated through official records, boundary maps, and relevant scholarly studies.

Until the mid-19th century, Albanians were among the groups with whom the Ottoman Empire experienced the least conflict. However, nationalismintensified by the French Revolution-began to influence non-Muslim communities in the Empire from the early 19th century onwards. As the Empire faced growing economic, military, and administrative challenges, alongside increasing demands for autonomy and independence across the Balkans, the idea of nationalism also began to take root among Albanians, particularly through the Albanian elites. In this atmosphere of rising nationalism, the

This article reconstructs the historical profile of the medieval town of Balezo, a largely neglected urban center located near Shkodra in northern Albania. Based on a critical reading of fragmentary documentary evidence – primarily Ragusan archival records, Venetian cadaster, papal correspondence, and historiographical references – the study examines both the secular and ecclesiastical dimensions of the town between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The first part analyzes Balezo’s urban structure, economic activity, and regional integration. Despite its modest size, the town functioned as a local administrative and economic node within the Rrjolli Valley, with dependent villages, artisanal production (shoemaking and carpentry), and active participation in Adriatic trade networks, particularly with Ragusa. Evidence of craftsmen, contracts, and tax obligations illustrates a developed, though small-scale, urban economy embedded in both rural hinterlands and broader exchange systems. The second part focuses on the diocese of Balezo, highlighting its institutional organization, episcopal succession, and clerical networks. The existence of a bishopric subordinated to the Archbishopric of Antibari, a cathedral chapter, and multiple churches indicates that Balezo also functioned as a local ecclesiastical center. However, the diocese was structurally fragile due to limited revenues, the strong presence of an Orthodox population in the surrounding area, and ongoing political and religious pressures. The study further traces the gradual decline of Balezo from the mid-fourteenth century onward, culminating in its transformation into a small rural settlement by the early fifteenth century. Although briefly reactivated in a strategic military context – particularly during the conflicts involving Skanderbeg and the Venetians – the town failed to recover its earlier urban functions. By situating Balezo within the wider Adriatic–Balkan context, the paper demonstrates the analytical value of microhistorical approaches to small medieval towns. It underscores the importance of integrating sparse and indirect sources. It also underscores the need for further archaeological and documentary research to clarify the role of such centers within the historical landscape of northern Albania.

In recent years the academic community has generated a significant amount of new research on the Greek Revolution in honor of its bicentenary. This paper aims to provide an overview of the recent historiography of philhellenism in relation to the significant bicentenary of 2021.The material used here consists of commemorative activities carried out in the academic world (conferences, lectures, publications, etc.) and is part of my postdoctoral research in the project Observatory for the Greek Revolution 1821. This initiative is hosted by the Laboratory of Modern and Contemporary History of the Department of History and Ethnology at the Democritus University of Thrace, in collaboration with the Research Center for the Humanities (RCH) and the journal Historein. The Observatory functions as a digital archive of public history, aiming to document and analyze the various forms of commemorations of the 1821 Revolution within both public discourse and academic scholarship. This historical juncture, which stimulated an unprecedented output of scholarly work, offers a compelling case study for examining twenty-first-century historiographical production. The Observatory was organized in five sections. The initial part consists of academic historiography, encompassing scholarly activities such as conferences, lectures, and monographs dedicated to the Revolution. The second part involves events arranged by various entities including domestic and international institutions, diaspora communities, local municipalities, primary and secondary schools, and the Church of Greece. The third part covers theatrical performances, museum exhibitions, monuments, and material culture associated with the Revolution.The fourth section features digital platforms such as social media, blogs, video games, and crowdsourced content that allowed participants to share their perceptions of 1821. The fifth and last part of the study examined mass media coverage, specifically looking at how newspapers, podcasts, and television programs portrayed the bicentenary. In terms of methodology, all researchers utilized digital ethnography principles to collect and organize the information. The project's approach is based on digital ethnography, used to document and analyze data within these specific areas. Researchers maintained detailed field notes, many of which were published as blog entries on the Observatory's website. All data were entered into a digital repository managed using Omeka, a content management system commonly adopted by academic institutions. The archive employs the Dublin Core metadata standard, with entries categorized by fields such as Title, Creator, Subject, Date, Description, Format, Language, and Rights. 1 This study focuses on recent historiographical trends regarding philhellenism, a prominent topic in academic events, accounting for approximately 23% of the 576 records in the "Academia and 1821" category. 2 This indicates a renewed scholarly

This article examines the constitutional and ideological foundations of church-state relations in socialist Macedonia (1945-1990), situating them within the broader framework of socialist Yugoslavia. It argues that the Macedonian model of secularism was shaped by a structural tension between Marxist atheism as an official ideological doctrine and formal constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion. While constitutional texts affirmed separation and religious liberty, statutory regulation and political practice constrained the public role of religion and marginalized religious communities within the socialist legal order. By analyzing ideological premises, constitutional provisions, and legislative instruments, the article identifies the defining paradox of the Yugoslav and Macedonian socialist approach: the coexistence of normative guarantees and ideological limitation. Finally, it explores the extent to which this model has influenced the post-1991 understanding of secularism in North Macedonia, suggesting that elements of regulatory continuity persist despite the democratic transformation of the constitutional system.

Just a few paces from the Adriatic sea, in the Istrian town of Poreč, lies the sacred oceanic cosmos of the Basilica Eufrasiana. This interdisciplinary study reinscribes the basilica with the aesthetics of water and develops an ecorelational methodology for reading architecture in relation to its environmental context. Massive margarita, mother-of-pearl, adorn the main apse of the Eufrasiana alongside gently undulating mosaic waves and organic forms that recall the plump, levitating, luminous bodies of jellyfish. Corinthian columns of Proconnesian marble, imported from the Sea of Marmara, line the central nave and side aisles, their striations blue-gray and white, their material flux evoking the ripples of waves and the movement of water, divining liquid wetness from impenetrable stone. From within the basilica can be heard the gentle lapping of waves against the complex wall, the murmuring of the tides as they roll in and out. The basilica becomes a containing seashell that stimulates acoustic reverberance, like a seashell that captures the sounds of the ocean when pressed to the ear. This highlights the slippage between marmar, to murmur, like marble, and to glitter, and margar, the containing pearl in the mollusk, Christ in the containing shell of the Virgin. I argue that the oceanic elements within the basilica invite in the adjacent sea, enabling this multisensory experience where the elements of the internal evoke the external, and the two are reunited in one sacred space.

This report provides a comprehensive historical account of Albanian migration to Anatolia and Turkey, spanning from the late fifteenth century to the late twentieth century. Drawing on Ottoman archival sources, census records, and a growing body of Turkish, Albanian, and anglophone scholarship, it maps the principal waves of Albanian displacement, the settlement and dispersal policies applied by both the Ottoman and Turkish Republican states, and the spatial distribution of Albanian communities across Anatolia. The report situates this migration history within the conceptual framework of the PRAXIS of Coexistence project. It argues that the Albanian case is particularly significant for understanding how coexistence is produced, managed, and lived under conditions of demographic engineering and state-directed settlement. Albanians arrived in Anatolia not simply as refugees seeking refuge but as a community whose very placement in space was calculated according to political logics of assimilation, security, and ethnic dilution. Yet across generations, Albanian migrants developed durable forms of social life and community infrastructure—including cultural associations (dernekler), dialect preservation, and endogamous family networks—that speak to a capacity for coexistence that was negotiated both with the state and with neighbouring communities. The findings presented here feed directly into the ongoing ethnographic and survey-based fieldwork of the PRAXIS project, providing the historical background necessary for interpreting contemporary patterns of Albanian identity, integration, and inter-ethnic relations in Turkey.