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  • Article
    A Factory in a Time of Turmoil: The Establishment and Engineering of the Büyükdere Match Factory in 1930s Istanbul
    (MDPI, 2025) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer Emin
    The Republic of Turkey established its first match factory in Sinop in 1929 but had to relocate it even before it was in operation due to severe structural damage caused by ground settlement. In July 1930, through his US-based firm the American-Turkish Investment Corporation (ATIC), the Swedish "Match King" Ivar Kreuger signed a contract with the Republic of Turkey to build and operate a factory in B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere, Istanbul. By 1930, Kreuger had already established a match production monopoly in nearly every country in Europe and that year created a similar financial system for Turkey, gaining control of match production for 25 years. This article explains the events surrounding the establishment of his modern production facility in Turkey, with a particular focus on its engineering aspects. It details the strategically chosen location, the engineering solutions for the factory's construction, its production lines, and what the country gained and lost from it. In order to determine the establishment and production processes of the facility, the authors examined domestic and foreign archival documents, firsthand news reports from the period, articles and theses, and all other available documents. After the contract was terminated by both parties, the Turkish government and ATIC, in May 1943, the factory continued its production and storage activities until May 1989. At that point, the factory and all its equipment were integrated into another existing facility in the & Idot;neg & ouml;l district of Bursa province. Almost all the buildings of the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory were demolished, and the land was repurposed for a 450-bed regional hospital in 2012. In short, this article deploys the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory as a case study to examine what Turkey gained and lost from the establishment and production processes of a modern industrial factory, enabled by US-Turkish collaboration, and equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies of the time.
  • Article
    Dublin and Istanbul: the Two Formative Forces in the Fiction of James Joyce and Orhan Pamuk
    (Walter de Gruyter Gmbh, 2015) Tekin, Kugu
    This comparative article explores how James Joyce and Orhan Pamuk approach and reflect upon their native cities in their works entitled Dubliners and Istanbul Memories and the City. The article puts particular emphasis on the two authors' parallel as well as different ways of representing Dublin and Istanbul. One of the most noteworthy similarities between Joyce and Pamuk is their preference for contemplating their birthplaces from outside as both authors have gone to a self-imposed exile. To a large extent, the said exile in the case of both authors is occasioned by a strong conviction that a double perspective-that of a native and that of a foreigner-is crucial for drawing an authentic picture of their cities. The article examines this double perspective as a parallactic structure. Parallax serves as a conceptual tool in understanding the two authors' manipulations of space and time in their writings. Where the two authors differ are the particular sentiments they entertain for their native cities. While a strong sense of hatred towards Dublin and Dublin life prevails in Dubliners, Pamuk's relationship with his city is defined by a deep love in Istanbul Memories and the City. And, it is these two contrasting emotional responses, namely hatred and love, that form the respective concepts of cityscape in the fiction of James Joyce and Orhan Pamuk.