This thesis, depending on some Ottoman archival documents, examines the effects of the Tanzimat reforms on the Ottoman Armenians and Kurds and the origins of the conflicts amongst these communities in the Ottoman Empire. The reforms initiated in the Tanzimat era had such a transformative effect both on the Ottoman Armenian and Kurdish societies that social, political and economic structures of the two communities changed radically. Due to the effects of the Tanzimat reforms and of these structural changes, the relations between the Ottoman Armenian and Kurdish communities started to deteriorate and the communal conflicts emerged during the Tanzimat era. These conflicts between the Armenian and Kurdish communities continued after the Tanzimat era.

Second Constitutional Era (1908-1918) was a period within which great changes occurred in the Ottoman Empire. On the one hand, it was a part of the modernization process that began in late eighteenth century / on the other hand, it was the last period of the Empire that had its own dynamics. This study is to examine changes and continuities in a locality, the Sivas Province, during the Second Constitutional Regime. The Sivas Province was one of the largest and most populated Anatolian provinces. It located in the middle of Anatolia therefore it had a geopolitical importance. Moreover, it was one of the six Eastern Provinces with a considerable Armenian population. Sivas had the biggest Armenian and Greek population among these provinces. Thus, both geopolitical importance and population characteristics make the province an appropriate place to examine change and continuity during the Second Constitutional Regime. In this study, transformation of the province is examined over some topics such as demographic characteristics, political life, administrative, educational and economic structures. The research about these topics indicates that three main dynamics of the Second Constitutional Regime were influential on developments in the Sivas case. These dynamics are war, population movements especially the Armenian Deportation and nationalism. These dynamics also determined implementation of the modernization policies in the Sivas Province during the Constitutional Regime. Therefore, transformation/change of the province is examined over these dynamics.

Anatolia has been the cradle of many different cultures throughout history. One of these was the Celts who migrated from Europe to Anatolia in the 3rd century BC and had various impacts on the settlement pattern of the region called Galatia after their arrival. Therefore in Anatolia urbanization history we know them as Galatians. The main statement of this thesis is that, cultural identity is not a static, inherent quality, but a dynamic and contigent aspect of the existence of people. Therefore cultural identity should be regarded as a pattern continuum. In thisd study, in order to predict the Galatian settlement pattern until thr Roman dominance in the late 1st century BC in Anatolia, European Celtic settlement pattern has been reviewed as well as archaeolgical evidence and the Celtic language. The Hallstatt and the following La Tene periods in European history have been investigated since La Tene period is isochronic with Galatians in Anatolia. From the archaeological evidence in Europe, it is clear that the Celts established defended settlements, mastered the art of iron working and mining, and traded with the classical world. In previous literature, Anatolia Celts/Galatians have been regarded as nomads who were involved mostly in warfare. However, the location of their forts and village-like settlements along the ancient trade routes implies that they were settled people who were engaged in production and trading activities as well, similar to La Tene in Europe. Settlement types and their distribution pattern, linguistic and archaeological evidence investigated in this thesis verify that Celtic cultural identity in the history of Europe and Anatolia should be regarded as a pattern continuum.