In today&rsquo / s cities, surveillance become a more common and internalized tool for control that spreads to everyday life with the assistance of new technologies. Numerous surveillance techniques for security reasons such as electronic surveillance on computers or phones, cameras in public and private spaces, fingerprint and eye scans at doors, investigations, credit cards, travel cards become an ordinary part of a modern individual. The study&rsquo / s point of departure is the question of whether people willingly accept being surveilled for their security or not, in Turkey context. The main argument however is the relation between surveillance-security phenomena and women. It is aimed to question how space, security and surveillance are gendered, whether surveillance increases women&rsquo / s security or not and whether women perceive surveillance as a beneficial tool for their everyday life security. The awareness of women on surveillance techniques, the scale of surveillance, the purpose of it and the relation of it with power mechanisms are also other debated issues. The argument is developed on security and surveillance perceptions of single living and employed women in Istanbul. The consequences of surveillance on public space, the cities in neo-liberal era and the policies that magnify fear and threat and as a result, the inescapable potential of surveillance and spatial segregation are also other subjects matter.

The aim of this master&rsquo / s thesis is to estimate the return performance of insiders (persons or firms liable for announcing their transactions to the public in accordance with the Capital Markets Board decrees) from their transactions and assess whether outsiders can earn abnormal returns by following reported insider transactions. In the study, Rolling Portfolio Approach has been implemented. As a result of the analysis made, when the purchases and sales of insiders are considered together, it has been observed that they, generally, cannot earn abnormal positive returns from their transactions or that they earn positive abnormal returns in the short periods that follow their transactions. When the returns of the portfolios consisting of stocks of which the insiders are the net purchasers or net sellers are taken into consideration, it has been perceived that the portfolios made up of stocks of which the insiders are net buyers cannot earn daily positive abnormal returns or that they earn daily positive abnormal returns in the short periods following their transactions. In the meantime, net sale portfolios earn statistically significant abnormal negative returns over longer holding periods. On the other hand, it has been perceived that investors replicating insider transactions, in general, cannot earn abnormal returns by employing an investment strategy founded on following the purchases and sales of insiders together. Moreover, it has been observed that an investment strategy based on buying the stocks of which the insiders are the net purchasers does not bring abnormal positive returns or that it can bring abnormal positive returns in the brief periods after the transactions. In contrast, it has been observed that, generally, in the sample period analyzed in the study, by avoiding buying or selling stocks of which the insiders are the net sellers, outsiders can evade daily negative abnormal returns. Findings of this thesis have important implications for the efficiency of the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Results indicate that the Istanbul Stock Exchange is not Semi Strong or Strong Form Efficient.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between the ownership issues and the conservation of historical housing areas, which is still an ongoing problem in Turkey. The study was carried out with respect to the local and international conservation approaches, as well as three urban conservation experiments from Turkey and Italy. Istanbul - Zeyrek World Heritage Area was taken as a case study to understand further on the issue. Approaches of international authorities on urban conservation such as UNESCO and European Council, and existing conservation legislation in Turkey were studied in relation with the concept of ownership and integration of property owners into the conservation process. Besides, recent changes in Turkish conservation legislation were studied and criticized from the same perspective. Three urban conservation experiences, &ldquo / Renovation of the Historic Center of the City of Bologna&rdquo / from Italy, &ldquo / Rehabilitation of Fener and Balat Districts Programme&rdquo / and &ldquo / TarlabaSi Urban Renewal Project&rdquo / from Istanbul Turkey were also studied within the frame of this study. These practices supplied information about how property owners&rsquo / integration into the process effects conservation of urban environments, from three different perspectives. Zeyrek World Heritage Area is a conservation area with monumental buildings from Byzantine Period and timber houses from Ottoman Period. Although many conservation plans concerning the area has been prepared, historical building stock of the area is in danger. Conservation problems and opportunities of the area were investigated by analysis and social and economic research in the area. At the end of the study, with reference to the experiences discussed, it was emphasized that Zeyrek World Heritage Area could be conserved, with an approach considering property owners within existing social and economic conditions of Zeyrek and current conservation legislation.

As far as the traditional Turkish theater does not refer to any architectural structure / the theater buildings that are built during the nineteenth century are identified with the ideals of modernity and treated as the literally translations of the Western typologies.This study aims to investigate the possbility of a geniune architectural language in the theaters of nineteeenth century Istanbul. While doing this, rather than offering a pure formal analysis,the study concentrates on the cultural panorama of the nineteenth century Istanbul, political and ideological changes, international relations, economic downturn and their impact on theater that starts to appear as a popular leisure time activity of the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

In this master study, the sustainability of local craftsmanship as affected by trust and work ethic will be discussed in the specific case of the jewelry sector in the Grand Bazaar. The case study is presented relying on interviews. The research theme is evaluated in sub-categories which contain socio-demographic structure, work ethic of masters and apprentices, Grand Bazaar and the jewelry sector. The effects of trust, work ethic, and obedience on craftsmanship are discussed. Basically, informal relations form the foundation for the work and trade relations especially in craft based jewelry sector. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul was chosen because it is the most important place for the craft-based jewelry sector in Turkey. This study first poses a general question by asking whether or not the jewelry sector in Istanbul (the Grand Bazaar) is still a craft. The analysis of the concepts of trust, work ethic, obedience, and social networks are operationalized and provide the frame for the main examination. The investigation of this topic will give clues about the organizational structure, working conditions of sector members and the production process of the sector. In the first part of this study, the concept of craftsmanship is described. This is done by giving special reference to the concepts of artisanal knowledge and work ethic. The discussion is settled in a short analysis of globalization processes. The past and future of the jewelry sector in the Grand Bazaar and guild system is discussed. In the second part, the case study is presented, relying on interviews with craftsmen in the jewelry sector in the Grand Bazaar.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of History, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation studies the construction of the marital bond and its dissolution with respect to the normative stipulations of the shari'a, social and moral constructions, and the cultural formations during late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth-century Istanbul. Through the examination of court cases, estate inventories, and contemporary chronicles, I demonstrate the strategies and practices that perpetrated possible patterns in the matrimonial union. Although Islamic law allowed for and encouraged the spouses to reconcile marriage-related negotiations outside of court, the amount of registered marital disputes indicates the central role of the court for spouses in establishing conciliatory grounds. This study explores in particular the consensual and purposeful use of the shari'a courts by women. The examination of the sicils from three different courts in intra muros Istanbul has shown that women were adamant about formalizing the consequence of marriage, divorce and property related discordances hoping to secure their future interests. The dissertation essentially introduces the largely overlooked issue of the specialization of courts in this period and presents specifically the Dāvud Pasha court’s concentration on marriage and family-related disputes. By focusing on local practices and particularities through a case-by-case methodology, the study delivers a portrayal of Ottoman urban marriage structure within the context of the socio-legal and economic dynamics of the period. Given that the formal registry of marriage contracts and divorce settlements was not legally enforced until the early twentieth century, the extensive practice of registration in court could be interpreted as the preliminary steps to the formalization and codification of the marital union. I offer a likely reading of women’s experiences with respect to marriage and property ownership suggesting that the predominant marriage pattern observed in the segment of the population that used the court was companionate. By analyzing quantitative data and archival material, I demonstrate women’s visibility in the public sphere through their significantly increased use of courts, proactive utilization of social networks, and strategic activities vis-a-vis marriage and divorce to depict a portrayal of the late eighteenth-century Istanbul family.

What makes Istanbul special and unique, is not its beauty, but the memories, the good and the bad of people who once lived there and were forced to leave for different reasons. This is something that people could realize as soon as they visit Istanbul and talk to the remaining minority populations who have faced bigotry, prejudice and persecution. Those have kept alive the real meaning of this metropolis. It is the multicultural and cosmopolitan character and especially the religious pluralism and diversity which still manages somehow to survive and characterizes the city and life in it, making it unique and offering a perfect symbolism since Turkey and especially Istanbul has become a significant mediator between the West and the East. Even though the figures have been dramatically changed and decreased, the city has retained some of its multicultural character, and still hosts some of the most important religious institutions. This is the main theme of this thesis, the history, the problems and the panorama of the life in the multicultural Istanbul. It is an overall view on different areas where population from different religious and cultural backgrounds co-existed for years and have a great historic meaning. The mahalles that will be examined in this study are those of Fener, Balat, and Ortakoy from the European side and Kuzguncuk from the Asian one. This thesis will try to highlight the main events which led to the alienation and the shrinkage of the religious populations in Istanbul, and will present a report on the current situation and projects which promote the religious diversity and aim to restore, partly, the glory of the multicultural past. Why nationalism prevailed and how did its predominance affect the multicultural Istanbul? What is the current situation in the neighborhoods which used to or still host populations from different religious backgrounds, and how do the recent cultural initiatives aim to bridge the gap that hatred and policies created?

This master thesis examines the role of foreign investors in the Istanbul Stock Exchange in three dimensions: differences among sectors and subsectors in terms of foreign trading activity, the effect of November 2000 &amp / #8211 / February 2001 crisis on returns and foreign trading activity, and the relationship between return and foreign trading activity. Data used in this thesis covers 72 months between January 1997 and December 2002. Significant differences among sectors and subsectors in terms of foreign trading activity is found. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant difference in the mean values and variances of returns on the overall market, national sector and most subsector indices before and after the crisis period of November 2000 &amp / #8211 / February 2001. However, foreign trading activity has decreased in interest-sensitive and cyclical industries and increased in defensive industries during the recession that follows the crisis. The relationship between return and net foreign trading volume relative to the total trading volume is statistically significant for the overall market and national sectors. Furthermore, we find that the effect of net foreign trading volume relative to the total trading volume on return is larger for stocks included in the ISE-30 index. The mean returns on stocks associated with negative NFV and positive NFV are statistically significantly different from each other. We further find that it is more likely to observe positive (negative) return on a stock when net foreign trading volume in that stock is positive (negative).

This thesis analyzes the relationship between stock returns and firm-specific characteristics including market beta, size, book-to-market ratio, leverage, earnings yield, net sales-to-price ratio and prior return performance in Istanbul Stock Exchange during the period 1993-2003. Moreover, the predictability of some macroeconomic variables based on the stock market return behavior is investigated.