Fellows 2017

 ABSTRACT
This dissertation investigates the relatively weakly theorized issue of official language policy transformation. When, why, and how do official language policies change? While this set of questions is sufficiently puzzling in itself, addressing it also contributes to the understanding of other related phenomena, such as the (re)construction of national identity, recognition or suppression of minorities, and eruption of ethnic conflicts. The study focuses on the cases of Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, which from similar starting points diverged dramatically in their language policies throughout the 1990s. It aims at detecting critical junctures in the history of policy persistence and change, motivations of political actors involved, and the effects of competing nationhood projects on this process.

BIOGRAPHY
Yury Katliarou is a Ph.D. candidate at the department of International Relations and Political Science at Koç University in Istanbul. Since 2020 he is also employed as a research assistant for the long-term research project Globalization of the Atom based at Bilken University in Ankara. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and European Studies from the European Humanities University in Vilnius, and his Master’s Degree in Eurasian Studies from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. Yury’s academic interests include, among others, the conditions of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in the former Soviet Union, state policies towards ethnic diversity, and the issues of language policy.

PUBLICATIONS
2017: Katliarou, Y.  “Nation Building in Turkish Republic: Unifying Nation around Language” in O. F. Sertkaya, S. Eker, H. Şirin, E. Uçar (eds.). Prof. Dr. Talat Tekin Hatıra Kitabı, C.1. Uluslararası Türk Akademisi, Çantay Kitabevi: İstanbul. 547-563.

2016: Katliarou, Y. “Belarusian Tatars: Religious, Linguistic and Cultural Peculiarities of the Community” in S. Eker and Ü. Ç. Şavk (eds.). Endangered Turkic Languages II B: Case Studies. Vol. 3. Uluslararası Türk Akademisi: Astana/Ankara. 247-252.

2016: Katliarou, Y. (Co-authored with A. Kahraman and Ö. Anaç) (2016). “Müslüman Acaralılar: İslam, Din Değiştirme ve Dini Haklar” in A. Aydıngün, A. Asker, A. Y. Şir (eds.). Gürcistan’daki Müslüman Topluluklar. Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik, Siyaset. AVİM: Ankara. 159-192.

2016: Katliarou, Y. (Co-authored with E. Gürsoy) “Post-Sovyet Acara’da Müslüman Acaralılar: Sosyo-Ekonomik Durum ve Siyasi Katılım” in A. Aydıngün, A. Asker, A. Y. Şir (eds.). Gürcistan’daki Müslüman Topluluklar. Azınlık Hakları, Kimlik, Siyaset. AVİM: Ankara. 193-218.