Factorul politic în evoluția și involuția turcologiei istorice din România

The present paper is a historical synthesis of the specialized Romanian historiography of the last 150 years. The political element decisively influenced the arduous course of scientific research of the history of relations between the Romanian Principalities and the Ottoman Sublime Porte. Although it has been declared, officially as well, a "fundamental problem of Romanian historiography", the study of these relations was subordinated from the outset to the political conditions and goals of one period or another, thus being largely ignored or falsified. To give an example, the historical Turkish-Ottoman and Tatar sources were deliberately excluded from the 45 massive volumes of the famous "Hurmuzaki" external sources collection, published between 1876 and 1942, solely with the idea of facilitating the admission of independent Romania into the symbolic European geography. During the Romanian Communist regime's first period the motivation was linked to Turkey's membership in NATO, which led to the exacerbation of historical hostility towards the Turks. During the Nationalist-Communist period, Turkey was accepted as a Black Sea neighbor and partner, as a result of its role in bringing Communist Romania closer to the great Western states. At that time, the most significant progress was achieved in the thorough knowledge of the history of Romanian-Ottoman relations.