The Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions Symposium, held in Istanbul from 13–15 April 2026, came to a close after three days of lively discussion and exchange.
Featuring a keynote lecture by Dr İlkay Yılmaz, alongside twenty-four papers, the symposium offered a rich exploration of the Ottoman world as a constantly shifting web of circulation, where the movement of people, objects and ideas continuously shaped imperial social, political, economic and cultural life. Throughout the event, participants approached mobility not simply as a by-product of imperial expansion but as a driving force that actively produced the structures, relationships, and lived realities of the Ottoman world.
The programme reflected the breadth and energy of this perspective. Papers explored themes ranging from displacement and refugee governance to networks of trade and informal power, the circulation of texts and knowledge, religious and urban mobility, captivity and punishment, infrastructure, gender, and cultural intermediaries. Spanning regions from the Balkans and Anatolia to the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and North and East Africa, the symposium highlighted the many interconnected Ottoman worlds and the diverse forms of movement that linked them. Bringing together scholars from history, art history, comparative literature, archaeology and related fields, it created a vibrant space for interdisciplinary conversation and fresh reflection.
Just as important were the conversations that continued beyond the formal panels. The closing reception at the British Consulate-General in Istanbul provided a wonderful setting to carry discussions forward in a more informal atmosphere and to celebrate the intellectual connections forged over the course of the symposium. On the final day, participants also joined a tour of the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery led by Dr Richard Wittmann, Deputy Director at the Orient Institut Istanbul. Shaped by the presence of diplomats, merchants, missionaries and other mobile communities, the cemetery offered an evocative setting for thinking about Ottoman mobility, trans-imperial connections, and the layered histories of movement embedded in Istanbul’s urban landscape.
We are hugely grateful to all the speakers, chairs, advisors and attendees whose contributions made the symposium such a stimulating and rewarding gathering. Our sincere thanks also go to the British Consulate-General in Istanbul for hosting the closing reception, to Sabancı University, and especially Dr Ayşe Ozil, for partnership, support and hosting the symposium in Minerva Han, and to Dr Wittmann for leading such a thought-provoking tour. We’re excited to see the future conversations, collaborations and research directions that the symposium has already begun to spark.
Ottoman Mobilities and Interactions is a collaborative project of the British International Research Institutes (BIRI). You can read more about it here.