This volume began life as a conference, Middle Eastern Societies (1918–1939): Challenges, Changes and Transitions, which was organised by the Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, in association with the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies, Newnham College, Cambridge and was held at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, in October 2015. We should like to thank Professor Hüseyin Bağcı, then Head of the Department of International Relations at METU, for his support, Büşra Barın and Gözde Emen for their help throughout the conference, and the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies, Newnham College, Cambridge. We are also grateful to VEKAM, Koç University, and its Director Professor Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu for organising the exhibition, “Başkentli: Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e Ankara’da Sokak ve İnsan/ The Capital: Streets and People in Ankara from Ottoman Empire to Republic”, which was held during the conference.
We should like to thank all those who participated in the conference and made it both a successful and a thoroughly enjoyable occasion; those who contributed chapters to this volume with whom it has been a pleasure to work, and, at Brill, Nicolette van der Hoek and Nienke Brienen-Moolenaar who make publishing a pleasure.