Ever since the Ottoman period, Turkish people have viewed the emergence of current Japan in modern history with amazement and admiration, which is likely rooted in the psychological identification that the Turkish public has formed with Japan. Having surmounted similar problems of development and survival as Japan, Turkey has faced difficult trials, even though Japanese and Turkish experiences in modern history have not always been the same. Namely, the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War created a great enthusiasm throughout the Turkish public who, like world opinion, celebrated young Japan 's victory over the autocratic Romanov regime in Russia as a sign of the liberation of oppressed peoples from Western imperialist hegemony. The observers of the Battle of Tsushima, Pertev Pasha (General Pertev Demirhan later), the intellectuals of the day, Abdullah Cevdet, Ziya Gökalp, and foremost, the young Turkish woman, Halide Edip Adivar, who was a nationalist-feminist literary figure and activist, wrote about this Rising Sun of the East as a harbinger of hope for the Turkish people. In utter jubilation for the Japanese victory, Halide Edip named her son Togo like many Turkish women of the day. In many ways, this sense of intellectual admiration also encouraged many figures from the Turkish world to start visiting new Japan in the late Meiji period. The visit of Abdulresid Ibrahim (1857-1944), a political activist and intellectual of the day, and a figure of the Ottoman and Romanov Turkish speaking world, to Japan in 1908 marked the beginning of Turkish visitors to Japan. Just like Yamada, Ibrahim and others, who now started visiting Japan, brought forth the publication of works on Japan in Turkish from first-hand experience. For example, Pertev Pasha wrote on Japanese youth and the Russo-Japanese War. In his book on Islam and Japan, Ibrahim discussed his impressions of late Meiji Japan not only as an admirable example of modern reforms and national diversity, but also as a pillar of liberalism within a constitutional monarchy, which he thought would be a good example for Ottoman constitutionalism. Additionally, in the aftermath of the turmoil that resulted from the First World War and the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, many Turko-Tatars from the Kazan area chose to settle in Japan, forming an emigre community with schools and mosques that can be seen in Tokyo today. One could venture to say that the nineteenth century background of Turkish interest in Japan probably played a significant role in why these emigres from the Turkish world chose Japan as their haven in a difficult time of world history. The interesting history in Japan further contributed to the multi-cultural history of Japanese society during the twentieth century. Today, Japanese-Turkish relations have developed to a much greater level than back in the days of Yamada in terms of economic and cultural relations. Compared to the Ottoman period, there are presently more recent economic relations between these two countries. Today, Japanese investment in Turkey is very important for the projects of Turkey's development. For example, more Japanese tourists are visiting the various sites of Turkey. Furthermore, young Japanese and Turkish people are increasingly studying each other's languages and cultures. As a historian of Japanese history, I hope that Japanese-Turkish relations will grow evermore in the sprit of the legacy from this sensibility of mutual discovery in friendship within the history of Japanese-Turkish relations.

(SELÇUK ESENBEL, PROFESSOR OF BOĞAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY IN ISTANBUL)