Introduction to the Journal of Turkish Studies
Turkey's President Erdogan won the presidential election on June 24， 2018. This was the first time in the history of the Republic of Turkey to hold parliamentary and presidential elections at the same time， marking the beginning of Turkey's transition from a parliamentary system to a presidential system， which will have a huge impact on Turkey's future political development. This becomes obvious recently with the Turkish-American crisis leading on August 10， 2018， US President Trump announced the doubling of tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum products and asked for a further review of US-Turkey relations， with the relation between Turkey and the US hitting a rough patch， the Turkish-American impasse seems more difficult to resolve. Turkey's relations with the EU have also been largely stagnant since 2017. After the Cold War， many changes have taken place in Turkey's relations with the West， especially since the beginning of the 21st century. Turkey had adjusted its foreign strategy and embarked on pluralism and multilateralism， which is also of great significance for Turkey with a history of more than 100 years of westernization.
The Ottoman Empire existed for more than 500 years. The history of the Ottoman Empire and the perception of Ottoman history greatly influenced the development path of modern Turkey. The interaction between the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding world profoundly affected the course of world history. The pluralistic coexistence between different religions and ethnic groups within the Ottoman Empire also provided important inspiration for the modern world. The development of the modern Turkish Republic is also full of ups and downs. The Republic itself has experienced the transition from authoritarian modernization to democratic politics； from a parliamentary system to a presidential system； and also witnessed the developmental history of how a medium-sized regional country can survive in a complex and turbulent environment. From the late Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish Republic， the Turks have been exploring and experimenting with a developmental path suitable for themselves， finally choosing the westernized mode of internal and diplomatic development， which greatly changed the development face of Turkey and affected the background of its culture. However， both the developmental path of Turkey in the post-authoritarian era and the recent developmental dilemma show that the road of westernization has reached a bottleneck that is almost impossible to break through， and Turkey naturally needs to explore new developmental paths. The exploration of Turkey's historical road has accumulated a lot of valuable experience， which not only includes numerous major theoretical problems， but also indicates the difficulty level of each nation in exploring the developmental path suitable for itself， which is of great significance for the research on the deepening of world history.
The domestic and foreign issues faced by Turkey largely enrich the fields of international politics and world history， and at the same time provide a unique perspective for us to observe the developmental trend of world history. The general feature of the present world pattern is that instability and unpredictability are on the rise， and academic and political circles are anxious about the issues. From the 1940s to the early 2000s， the world was full of dangers and challenges， but most of the time it was possible to identify the main drivers and problems that were driving change in the world and contribute solutions to those problems. On the other hand， the global order is full of uncertainty and unpredictability， due to the swing of the US after Trump's election， the prevalence of populism and the rise of extreme nationalism in Europe and the instability of the global economy. Turkey has a highly congenial and complex interaction with today's uncertain world. Nationalist sentiment is running high in Turkey， which as mentioned before is shifting from a parliamentary to a presidential system， while Mr. Erdogan himself is highly unpredictable. As far as the regional situation is concerned， the re-exploration of the development path of Kurdish countries in the Syrian civil war in the Middle East is most pertinent to Turkey of all neighbours. As far as the wider international arena is concerned， Turkey is a direct participant in major international issues such as the prospect of Turkey's accession to the European Union and its relations with the United States.
Turkey is currently undergoing its Fourth Republican period. The various constitutions and landmark events can broadly define Turkish history starting with the republic's establishment in 1923， and the introduction of its constitution in 1924. Following the military coup in 1960， Turkey adopted a new constitution until the 1980 coup， marking the Second Republic. The Third Republic is set from the 1982 constitution until 2018， while since then， the new Turkish constitution will mark the Fourth Republic. Research on Turkey will therefore help us to deepen our understanding of several sets of concepts and theories： Secularism and modernity， Islam and democracy， the West and the Islamic world， the world significance of the Turkish road.
At present， both on the study of the Ottoman Empire， and for the study of the modern Republic of Turkey， there are a lot of “black holes”. The exploration of these “black holes” needs to be on the basis of the study of history， with multidisciplinary collaboration， in order to understand the history， development and its significance in the world， and to provide some important theoretical and practical problems of valuable viewpoints and experiences and lessons.
Up to now， there is no specialized journal on Turkish research in China. Shaanxi Normal University has decided to publish the Journal of Turkish Studies， which is sponsored by the Institute of History and Civilization and the Center of Turkish Studies. Our task is to focus on the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of modern Turkey， to comprehensively examine the historical， cultural， political， economic， military and diplomatic aspects， and to pay close attention to the research of history and politics of Turkey itself while paying attention to Turkey's interaction with the world. Through an interdisciplinary prism we can achieve a deeper understanding of Turkey， as well as， generally， world historical processes， we can achieve a depth of understanding of Turkey and from this look at world historical processes in general. The articles published in this journal are all original the first manuscripts， Chinese scholars' articles are in Chinese， and foreign scholars' articles are in English. This issue focuses on the governance of the modern Turkish Republic， including its difficulties， achievements and inspirations， thus deepening the discussion of world history and international politics.
August 30 2018， xi'an china