ΔΥΟ ΟΘΩΜΑΝΙΚΑ ΤΕΚΜΗΡΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΡΗΓΑ

Abstract

In April 1889 Yusuf Ziya Pasha, the Ottoman ambassador in Belgrade, sent a report to the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his report the Ottoman ambassador summarized the contents of a lecture given on March 19, 1889, by the academic, politician and director of the Belgrade Grand School (later University), Svetomir Nikolayevich. The lecture was held at the Belgrade Grand School on the occasion of the anniver¬sary of the Greek Revolution. In his speech, Nikolayevic referred to the personality and the radical ideas of Rhigas, emphasizing his efforts to promote closer relations between Serbia, Greece, and the other Balkan people and to propagate the idea of forming a Balkan alliance against the Ottoman Empire. In this study I provide the translation of the Ottoman document and I comment on its content in order to highlight the informa¬tion and the conclusions that can be drawn from this document in regard with the Ottoman perceptions of Balkan nationalisms.