Osmanlı - Rus İlişkilerinde Makedonya Sorunu (1885-1908)
The Macedonian Question in Ottoman-Russian Relations (1885-1908)

Summary/Abstract: Throughout the history, due to its strategic location in the Balkan Peninsula, Macedonia region became the center of attention of both the Great Powers and the Balkan states. Since the nineteenth century, the Great Powers embarked on a quest to take over the Balkans as the time Ottoman rule in the Balkans was weakening. Tsarist Russia viewed the Macedonian problem as a part of the Eastern Question and positioned itself to protect the status-quo in the region so that no other major power succeeds the Ottoman Empire in the region. While cooperating with Austria-Hungary for unrests in the Macedonian provinces, the Tsardom passed its concerns to the Ottoman Empire and demanded the Ottomans to take initiative reforms. In addition, the Russia’s representatives in the region warned the Balkan states and committee leaders not to make the situation worse. As expected, as the traditional guardian of the Balkan Slavs, Russia took any precaution to keep its own interest in the region. Although politically pressured the Ottomans to implement the reforms, Russia worked diligently not to interfere the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire. In the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, Russia barely kept its status as a Great Power and was always in search of an alliance on the policies regarding the Ottoman Empire. Russia’s problems in the Far East and fear of the reformist movements within its borders influenced Russia to form this kind of strategy on relations with the Ottoman Empire. This paper analyzes the Tsarist Russia’s policies on the Macedonian Problem in light of Turkish and Russian sources and elaborates on the causes of radical changes in the Russian policy toward the Ottoman Empire. In the end, this paper presents that Macedonian Problem can be analyzed from multi-perspectives by using Russian and Turkish sources.

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