Ethnic nationalism versus religious loyalty: The case of Kurds in Iran

When religious differences are present within an ethnic group, how do they affect the scope of its nationalist mobilization? The Kurds of Iran presents an ideal case to address this question given their religious diversity and varying levels of involvement in Kurdish nationalist movements. Building on an institutional approach to ethnic identity, this article argues that the dynamics of Kurdish ethnic mobilization in Iran reflect the nature of political exclusion in the Islamic Republic that is primarily based on sectarian affiliation. The article, based on original datasets compiled using several languages, including Persian and Kurdish, shows that recruitment into the Kurdish insurgency in Iran is significantly stronger in the Sunni Kurdish areas than the Shiite ones. While religious identity limits the appeal of ethno‐nationalism among the Shiite Kurds, it doubles the sense of marginalization among the Sunni Kurds and makes them more receptive to violent insurgent mobilization.     

New compositional data on ancient mortars from Hagia Sophia (Istanbul,Turkey)

This study shows the results of a multidisciplinary collaboration between the University of Calabria (Italy) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), about the compositional characterization of some mortars taken from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Turkey), one of the most important buildings in antiquity. Twenty samples of joint mortars were analysed by micro-chemical analyses (SEM-EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), optical microscopy (OM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The compositional study allowed us to define, with more detail, the construction phases of the fifth, sixth and tenth century. The petrographic analysis in thin section by optical microscopy showed four typologies of sands, used as aggregate, with specific compositional features. SEM-EDS analyses and TEM observations of the binder around the ceramic fragments of the aggregate showed the presence of different morphologies of single C-S-H compounds.     

Toward an understanding of the exchange in ancient scented oils through organic residue analysis of Bronze Age Near Eastern ceramic bottles by GC-MS

This paper presents a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) organic residue analysis (ORA) of samples extracted from five Early Bronze Age ceramic bottles excavated at the archaeological site of Küllüoba in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and the first attempt at directly analysing the content of this category of products. Our results show that various types of liquid have been contained in different bottles and identify the presence of dicarboxylic and oleic acids with a large amount of palmitic acid in most samples, suggesting that they may have mostly contained a plant-based oil. The presence of diterpenoids further shows the addition of ingredients such as conifer resin and other plant-derived products. Overall, the analytical results presented here indicate the exchange of scented oils in Anatolia already during the late third millennium BCE. The different organic residue profiles contained in different samples also suggest a range of different recipes for these products.     

Impacts of Planners' Different Viewpoints on Optimum Land-Use Allocation

Development of different viewpoints/perspectives in the planning process and discussion of their empirical results will allow creation of “better land-use plans”. In this sense, one of the deficiencies met by the land-use planners is lack of decision support system that can analyse the empirical results of different viewpoints analytically. The aim of this study is to analyse impacts between planners' different viewpoints and the optimum land-uses allocation empirically and analytically. The study uses a generalized land assignment model formulated by Hanink and Cromley (1998) [Land-use allocation in the absence of complete market values, Journal of Regional Science, 38(3), pp. 465–480] that integrates the geographical information systems with multi-criteria decision-making techniques in Cesme/Izmir in Turkey. The study results indicated that the model is very useful to analyse impacts between planners' viewpoint and optimum land-use allocation.     

Determination of Optimum Environmental Conservation: Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Techniques

The type and degree of conservation areas in Turkey legally dictate the kind of land uses that can and cannot take place in a conservation area. Thus, the conservation scheme is one of the most important criteria in designing an urban land-use plan. The aim of this study is to analyse the effects of various conservation decisions on land-use allocation holding everything else constant. This study uses a land-allocation mathematical programme formulated by Hanink and Cromley [(1998) Land-use allocation in the absence of complete market values, Journal of Regional Science, 38, pp. 465–480] that integrates the geographical information systems with a generalized assignment problem to determine an optimum level of conservation scheme in Cesme/Izmir, a coastal resort in Turkey. The findings state that the proposed technique is indeed very useful and promising to answer diversified practical issues on a more rational basis.