Россия и Арабский мир: к 200-летию профессора Санкт-Петербургского университета Шейха ат-Тантави (1810–1861)

214 Conclusion Some thirty years after the publication of the first studies on the Muslim tujjār in the Ottoman lands in the long 19th century, the generalizations about non-Muslim predominance in the Empire’s economy are still common. The change of attitude toward this dominant paradigm has been slow thus far. The assimilation of the findings regarding the Muslim tujjār in the economic his- tory of the Ottoman Empire has become apparent only recently, toward the end of the first decade of the present century. Why is the rejection of the paradigm so plodding? According to Thomas Kuhn this is not necessarily a long period, for the decline of a paradigm is usually a protracted process. Only when the gap between the theory (the generalization or paradigm) and the facts (historical evidence in our case) widens and deepens, does it become increasingly difficult for scientists (historians) to continue adhering to the old paradigm. The key question in this context refers to the duration of the proc- ess. In the history of science, there have been cases in which this process con- tinued for many decades and even generations. 1 With regard to the predominance paradigm, a number of factors may be mentioned that possibly influenced the potency and pace of change. Thus, for example, the public discourse in the West on the weakness of Muslim private enterprise in most Islamic countries in our generation was probably projected onto approaches and perceptions regarding the existence and functioning of Muslim entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region in the last two centu- ries. Globalization and the significant role played by multinationals in the economic development of several Middle Eastern economies in recent dec- ades accentuated the role played by foreign and non-Muslim entrepreneurs in the local economies. Yet, it is reasonable to assume that continued research on the Muslim tujjār , and, particularly, new quantitative studies on their en- terprises and their impact on economic growth, will finally send the old para- digm and its variant to the graveyard of historiography. Mesut ÇAPA (Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey) Russian Consulate in Trabzon in the Period of the Foundation of Turkish Republic Introduction This paper aims to explain the activities of Russian/ Soviet Consulate in Trabzon during Turkish independence War and establishment of Turkish Republic (1920-1926). 1 Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 150-52.