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An Analysis on the Ahdname Practice of the Ottoman Unilateral Diplomacy
by Zeynep Bostan
The diplomatic relations of the European states and the Ottoman Empire began since the emergence of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century and improved during the centuries. Ahdname documents were the core instruments that formed the legal basis of the commercial and diplomatic relations between them. Ahdnames referred to two types of international documents: peace treaties and the so called "capitulations". Besides political and commercial issues, both types of ahdnames included a considerable number of articles concerning the diplomatic actors such as the temporary envoys, ambassadors, consuls, their interpreters and employees. The ahdnames were the primary and most-high ranking documents that determined the rights, duties, extent of authority and personal, economical and judicial privileges of the diplomats. Besides, the application and conclusion process of the ahdnames brought an intense diplomatic interaction between the Ottomans and the Europeans. This study aims to approach the ahdname documents from the perspective of diplomatic studies. Beginning with their theoretical roots and historical survey, it focuses on the preparation process and the articles about the diplomats in the ahdnames. It is understood that, the core concept of "extra-territoriality" that ahdnames envisaged, influenced the "new" diplomatic attitude which emerged and developed in Europe at about the same period. Ahdname documents were significant for their effects and contribution over the Ottoman unilateral diplomacy and implicitly over the European diplomacy.
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The modern diplomacy has emerged in the Italian city-states and spread to Europe during the Renaissance era. Diplomacy became a permanent institution and its most significant characteristic was the resident envoys. The new style of diplomacy slowly developed through centuries along with the development of centralized, secular, territorial, nation states in Europe and an international system between these states. On the other hand, the most powerful rival of them, the Ottoman Empire, was a different political entity with its imperial nature and this was the main reason that Ottomans did not adopt the permanent diplomacy until the reforms in the end of the 18th century. This essay attempts to introduce the conditions that forced the European states to use this new style of diplomacy and the reasons of Ottoman’s persistence on unilateral diplomacy. In addition to this, a comparison is made on the approach, mechanisms, institutions, agents and traditions of diplomacy between the European States and the Ottoman Empire in the early modern era.
The diplomatic negotiation is naturally a confrontation of different nations that the diplomats of two or more culturally distinct countries come together to achieve peaceful and legitimate results on an issue of their interests. Although it seems to be a value-free process as diplomats negotiating according to rational-choice as in all human activity, negotiations are affected by the characters of nations. This essay aims to express the importance of negotiation for nations and the inevitable influence of the national culture over the negotiation.
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