IV. Middle East Congress on Politics and Society Proceedings Book 194 CEBEL-İ LÜBNANDA DÜRZÎ-MÂRÛNÎ ÇATIŞMASI VE OSMANLI YÖNETİMİNİN ALDIĞI TEDBİRLER (1840-1845) Turgut SUBAŞI Dr., Faculty Member Sakarya University subasi@sakarya.edu.tr Abstract Although Lebanon was an inner region of the Ottoman Empire, it had a very complicated situation in terms of ethnic and religious structure. The region has long been "a mosaic of tribes" belonging to various religions, sects and races. In Lebanon, which entered the Ottoman sovereignty in 1516, a management was established in accordance with local conditions. The majority of the population in the region were Druze Muslim and Maronite Catholic Christians. The rest of the population consisted of the Metâvile Shiites, Greek Catholic and Armenian Catholic communities. When this structure was included in the geographical position, the European States, which wanted to establish a superiority in the region, started to be interested in this geography and tried to direct the power and sectarian conflicts in their own interests. Because this was the starting point of the road to Asia in the Eastern Mediterranean. A state that could control this region would have the power to control all trade routes to India. Hence, there was a British and French conflict of interest in Lebanon, rather than the Druze-Maronite conflict. In fact, the events in Lebanon began when Napoleon turned to Syria after the invasion of Egypt. Mehmet Ali Pasha was in the army sent to the region for disposal of this occupation. After the evacuation of Egypt, Mehmet Ali was appointed as the Governor of Egypt. However, Mehmet Ali Pasha, taking advantage of the negative conditions of the Ottoman Empire, after Egypt, he wanted to establish dominance in Syria. This started the conflict between the Ottoman Governor and the Ottoman Sultan. Following the end of Mehmet Ali Pasha's presence in the region, the superiority of France in the region weakened and the balance developed in favor of England. Conscious of the importance of the region for itself and the European States, the Ottoman administration sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs Şekip Pasha to the region with broad powers on the events to protect the sensitive balances in the region. Keywords: Mount Lebanon, Druze, Maronite, Ottoman State, Şekip Pasha. Özet Cebel-i Lübnan, Osmanlı Devleti’nin bir iç bölgesi olmasına rağmen, etnik ve dini yapısı bakımından oldukça karmaşık bir duruma sahipti. Bölge, eskiden beri çeşitli din, mezhep ve ırklara mensup bir “kavimler mozaiği” halindeydi. 1516 yılında, Osmanlı egemenliğine giren Lübnan da, yerel şartlara uygun bir yönetim kuruldu. Bölgedeki nüfusun büyük bir kısmı, Dürzî Müslüman ve Mârûnî Katolik Hristiyanlardan oluşmaktaydı. Geriye kalan nüfus ise, Metâvile Şiîler, Nusayri, Rum Kelkit, Rum Katolik ve Ermeni Katolik cemaatlerden meydana gelmekteydi. Bu duruma coğrafî konumda eklenince, bölgede üstünlük kurmak isteyen Avrupa’nın güçlü devletleri, bu coğrafya ile yakından ilgilenmeye başlayıp, iktidar ve mezhep çatışmalarını kendi çıkarları doğrultusunda yönlendirme çabası içerisine girdiler. Çünkü Asya'ya giden karayolunun Doğu Akdeniz’deki başlangıç noktası buradaydı. Bölgeyi kontrolü altında tutabilen bir devlet, Hindistan’a kadar uzanan ticari yolları denetleyebilecek bir güce