The scientific meeting of the Social and Economic History of Diyarbakır and the Region was held, which met with a great interest in the region and organized by Hrant Dink Foundation with the collaboration of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Culture Department, Diyarbakır Trade and Industry Chamber (DTSO) and Diyarbakır Political and Social Research Institute DİSA. In the conference, presentations about the fate of the non-Muslim properties drew attention. In the general evaluation and discussion after the conference, it has been cooperated that this meeting will be a basis for academic works in the future. Closing speech was done by the Mayor of Diyarbakır Osman Baydemir. Baydemir, in his speech, mentioned the importance of confrontation of the people of that region with their history by putting emphasis on “the confrontation”. The conference which was broadcasted live on www.hrantdink.org reached more than 2,000 people over 24 countries. You can watch all videos of the conference below.

1st DAY

Opening Remarks - Rakel Dink, Osman Baydemir, Mehmet Diyaeddin Gezer, Necdet İpekyüz, Cengiz Aktar

Keynote Speech - Baskın Oran

Panel I: "General Panorama of Diyarbakır and its Surroundings"

Chair Akşin Somel

Barbara J. Merguerian "Diyarbekir: A 19th Century American Perspective (1830-1870)"

Kerem Soylu "The region during the second half of 19th Century based on archives of Diyarbekir"

Raymond Kevorkian "The demographic challenge or the control of the territory: The vilâyet of Diyarbekir during the Ottoman period"

George Aghjayan "A demographic narrative of the Diyarbekir province based on Ottoman records"

Panel II: "Social-Economic Order and Its Deterioration During the Second Half of 19th Century I"

Chair Suavi Aydın

Özge Ertem "The relations between Muslim and non-Muslim inhabitants of Diyarbakır, the local council, local notables and foreign actors"

Seda Altuğ "Kurdo-Armenians in the rural parts of Diyarbekir in the pre-1915 world"

Panel III: "Social-Economic Order and Its Deterioration During the Second Half of 19th Century II"

Chair Dilek Güven

Cafer Sarıkaya "Looking at the social and economic history of Diyarbekir and its periphery from 1893 Chicago World Fair"

Vahe Tachjian "The role of Palu Armenian life in the understanding of the development of the area’s social, economic and political life"

Panel IV: "Ottoman Politics Towards the Region and Emerging Nationalisms I"

Chair Fazıl Hüsnü Erdem

Uğur Bahadır Bayraktar "Getting used to humanity: a gaze from the Sublime Porte to Diyarbakır during the Tanzimat period"

Akşin Somel "Ottoman education policies between 1870 and 1908"

Suavi Aydın "Reflections on tribe-community-state relations in Diyarbekir and its periphery in 19th Century"

Panel V: "Ottoman Politics Towards the Region and Emerging Nationalisms II"

Chair Baskın Oran

Janet Klein "State, tribe, dynasty, and the contest over Diyarbekir at the turn of the 20th Century"

Benjamin Trigona-Harany "Failed Ottomanism: the Süryani of Diyarbekir"

Mehemed Malmisanij "Kurdish nationalism in Diyarbekir in the early 20th Century (1900-1920)"

2nd DAY

Panel VI: "Violence, Pogrom and Genocide in Diyarbakır I"

Chair Etyen Mahcupyan
Jelle Verheij “Diyarbekir and the Armenian crisis of 1895”

David Gaunt “The culture of inter-religious violence in Anatolian borderlands in the late Ottoman Empire (1890-1915)”

Zeliha Etöz “Great Blazes of Diyarbekir”

Panel VII: "Violence, Pogrom and Genocide in Diyarbakır II"

Chair Raymond Kevorkian

Hans-Lukas Kieser “Missed peace with the Armenians? Approaching the Ottoman eastern provinces before 1915”

Ayhan Aktar “Diyarbekir 1914-1919”

Panel VIII: "Social and Economic conditions from World War I to the Republican era I"

Chair Ahmet İnsel

Mekki Uludağ "The social and economic conditions of Silvan during World War I"

Cuma Çiçek "The first 10 years of the Turkish Republic in the Kurdish region"

Doğan Hoca "Changing demographical structure of Diyarbekir"

Jessie Hanna Clark / Saadet Altay "Historic role of women in Kurdish society in pre and early republican era"

Panel IX: "Social and Economic conditions from World War I to the Republican era II"

Chair Ali Bayramoğlu

Sait Çetinoğlu "What happened to Armenian properties in Diyarbakır and its periphery?"

Mehmet Polatel "The role of Armenian properties in the socio-economic transformation of Diyarbakır (1920-1945)"

General Evaluation and Discussions


The "Proceedings book of Diyarbakır” that includes the papers presented at the conference was published in Turkish.