This study examines the history and ethnic identity of Turks living in Bor&ccedil / ali (Kvemo-Kartli) region of Georgia. It focuses on the mechanisms that led to the formation and strengthening of their ethnic identity and the impact of the shifts in political borders on ethnic identification. Characteristics of the region and the people are provided and socio-political developments are analyzed with an historical perspective. Different dimensions of the concepts of ethnicity and ethnic identity are discussed with an interdisciplinary approach.

The present thesis aims to recount the current situation of the Alevi community in the urban Turkish setting. The data were collected during eight months of ethnographic field research from February 2009 to October 2009 in a complex preferred to be called as the Dikmen Alevi Community Center, in Ankara. I present different ways adopted by various groups while explaining what Alevism is and I stress the fact that there is a certain degree of fragmentalization within the community due to such diverse descriptions. Thenceforth, I emphasize the reasons behind the existence of divergent classifications and analyze Alevis&rsquo / migration from rural to urban areas during 1970s and 1980s as it relates to the changes in the institutions. After offering an evaluation of the changes accompanying migration, I accentuate the competitive sharing of the city as a religious space between Alevis and Sunnis concentrating on Alevis&rsquo / perception of religious space and providing a comparison between Sunni and Alevi perceptions regarding the places of worship. Subsequently, I attempt to show that there is a competitive sharing relationship present within the community giving the example of Dikmen Alevi Community Center after the establishment of the Alevi Institute for Research, Documentation and Application. I conclude that this kind of a relationship and the current state of affairs are the results of the struggle to adapt to a changing environment, which in turn alters the individuals themselves.

Meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous tissue which plays an important role in joint stability, lubrication, and load bearing and transmission. Meniscal tears are commonly encountered in sports activities, or caused by degeneration of the cartilage with ageing. They lead to pain, loss of work, disturbed biomechanics of the knee and inability to walk or even move the legs. As the meniscal tissue is avascular in the inner portion, injury to this part does not heal by itself, and therefore treatments are needed. In some cases when complex tears occur, the tissue cannot be successfully treated with the conventional methods. Tissue engineering appears to be a promising alternative to treat such complex tears. It includes the application of cells on scaffolds (or cell carriers), and provision of bioactive agents to the site of injury in order to regenerate the damaged tissue. The cells and the bioactive agents are involved in the synthesis of the new tissue, while the scaffold acts as a support to guide the cells until the new tissue is formed, and it is slowly absorbed by the body leaving the new tissue behind. Thus, a natural tissue is generated at the end. Few studies have been reported on the tissue engineering of meniscus, but neither of them was able to completely mimic the meniscus structure, nor could they succeed in constructing scaffolds with sufficiently high tensile properties. In the current in vitro study, a novel 3D construct was proposed, in which the natural tissue is perfectly mimicked. The 3D construct consisted of aligned collagen fibers embedded within a foam network which stabilizes the structure. The foam was prepared by freezing a polymer solution with a certain concentration, and lyophilizing it. Aligned fibers were aimed to improve the tensile properties. The construct was impregnated in alginate gel, which was then crosslinked, to improve the compressive properties. The foam was prepared from (poly(L-lactic acid)/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLLA/PLGA) solutions of various concentrations (2%, 2.5%, 3%, and 4% w/v) and at different freezing temperatures (-20oC or -80oC) to select the best preparation condition. After analysis of the microstructure and mechanical properties, foams prepared from 3% polymer solution frozen at -20oC were found to be the most appropriate for use as scaffold for the 3D construct, since they had large pores, high and interconnected porosity, as well as high mechanical strength. The 3D constructs were seeded with human meniscus cells and incubated for 21 days. Cell behavior on the constructs was examined. Cell attachment and proliferation was found to be better with the constructs not coated with alginate. However, the constructs coated with alginate demonstrated higher compressive strength. It was also found that incorporation of collagen fibers significantly improved the tensile properties. All the constructs were shown to lead to the production of extracellular components specific for fibrocartilages, and thus it was concluded that they were promising for use in meniscal replacement.

The thesis investigates the basis of possible sources of shifts in the classical conceptualizations of political legitimacy of nation state as a result of the impositions of globalization. To this end, it first suggested that we should have a theory of globalization. Globalization in the fields of economy, politics, society, culture and identity along with fragmentation provides crucial changes in the roles and functions of the state, which result in fundamental transformation in the distinctive features of nation state, such as autonomy, capacity, unity, territoriality, sovereignty and identity. The depreciation in the classical roles and functions of nation state is observed in its decreasing capacity to cope with emerging global threats, such as environmental pollution, unequal development and international crimes. Economic globalization deprives nation state of its autonomy in determining its own economic policies. And identity/culture assertions of the locality disintegrate the unity and identity of nation state. Decreasing autonomy, capacity and unity lead to further depreciation in other two fundamental features of nation state, which are territoriality and sovereignty. These developments force nation state to find out new ways of legitimizing its position under the global context. In classical conceptions, political legitimacy of nation state had been constructed within the framework of the premises of its autonomy, sovereignty, territoriality, unity, identity and capacity. However, those fundamental characteristics of nation state seem to be depreciating under the global context. Actually, this depreciation will result in a new conceptualization of political legitimacy under globalization. Therefore, in this re-conceptualization of political legitimacy, individual, local and global impositions emerge as major sources. Nation state, which is eager to resituate itself in a legitimate basis in the twenty first century, should take into account emerging individual, local and global concerns.

The main concern of the thesis is the problem of reconciliation of freedom and natural causality and to investigate how Kant makes a room for freedom. Kant, firstly, in &ldquo / Analytic&rdquo / , constitutes the conditions of knowledge upon which the objective validity of the law of causality entirely rests. This process of constitution also determines the limits of experience. On the other hand, Kant, in &ldquo / Dialectic&rdquo / , postulates freedom as a noumenal cause together with the law of causality. Transcendental freedom, in this case, is a problematic concept which transcends the limits of experience, as it seems to destruct the unity of experience. However, Kant gives up neither the law of causality nor the idea of freedom, but rather he insists upon the idea that they can exist together without contradiction by asserting the distinction between phenomena and noumena as different grounds on which these two different types of causalities rest. According to Kant both are indispensable, as the former is necessary for the knowledge and the latter is absolutely needed for morality. In this context this thesis aims to explain the objective validity of natural causality which is proved in Second Analogy and the transcendental ground of the idea of freedom which is established in the solution of Third Antinomy in Kant&rsquo / s Critique of Pure Reason. And it is discussed whether Kant&rsquo / s solution of this issue is satisfactory and legitimate or not.

The purpose of this study is to present the metaphysical status of &ldquo / language game&rdquo / in later Wittgensteinian philosophy of language and to deal with the revolutionary role of &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / by means of Hintikka&rsquo / s interpretation of later Wittgenstein. It is usual to divide Wittgenstein&rsquo / s work into the early and the later period. The early period is based upon the picture theory of meaning, according to which a sentence represents a state of affairs. On the other hand, the later period gives special emphasis on the actions of people and the role their linguistic activities. The early period ignored factual or cognitive meaning since it relied on mirroring the structure of state of affairs by sentences. So, early period of Wittgenstein was concluded that &ldquo / whereof we can&rsquo / t speak, thereof we must be silent.&rdquo / This idea gives clues about metaphysics of early Wittgenstein. In this sense, language is treated in abstraction from activities of human beings. In the later work, Wittgenstein emphasizes everyday usage of language in &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / as social activities of ordering, advising, measuring, and counting and so on. These different &ldquo / language-games&rdquo / make up &ldquo / form of life&rdquo / . &ldquo / Language game&rdquo / with other vital notions of later Wittgenstein, as &ldquo / form of life&rdquo / , &ldquo / agreement&rdquo / establishes language matrix. So, later period of Wittgenstein is a rejection of his early period. Actually, his treatment of philosophy and philosopher is different from his early period. In addition to this, later Wittgenstein mainly focuses on the principle of &ldquo / meaning=use&rdquo / which is called contextual theory of meaning. In his later period, Wittgenstein aims to bring back words from metaphysics to everyday usage. On the other hand, metaphysics still plays a role in his later period as his early period, although he altered his early philosophy of language. To sum up, the notion of &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / is conceptually/ ontologically prior to its rules. In this sense, Wittgenstein forms &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / as a model for the other social activities of human beings. Furthermore, &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / is regarded as a bridge between language and reality and it shows &ldquo / language-game&rdquo / s revolutionary role in later Wittgenstein.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between NGOs and the democratization process in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The conditions shaping both the civil society and political development are analysed in the light of findings obtained through in-depth interviews with NGO leaders in Kyrgyzstan. Despite relative freedom for NGOs, civil society in Kyrgyzstan is still in its infancy. Soviet era conception of roles attributed to state and society still persist especially among the governmental officials and general population. Despite the problems of building a democratic regime in Kyrgyzstan, NGOs have achieved a certain level of development. Through building functioning state institutions together with a lively political society primarily including political parties, the potential of NGOs for democratic development can be more fully utilized.

This thesis explores the identity perceptions of the Armenian and Jewish communities in the context of Ankara. Purpose of the study is to understand the ways the members of these communities experienced the social, spatial, political and cultural changes in the capital-city after the establishment of Turkish nation-state / and in what ways they draw on these experiences in terms of their identifications, self-understanding, and feelings of belonging. For this purpose, life-story narratives of people who were born in the early Republican era and of the following generation were collected through oral history methodology. As a result of the analyses of these narratives, multiple, fluid, contextual, and contingent character of identity in terms of the Armenian and Jewish communities in Ankara is pointed, and it is concluded that community identity for the members of these communities was symbolically constructed.

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