Review: The subject of this study is the examination of the position of the Turkish press at the very beginning of the Second World War. As the research object of this article, the author put together a set of the leading Turkish newspapers of the time: "Tasvir-i Efkâr (Depiction of Ideas)", "Cumhuriyet (Republic)", "Ulus (People)", "Tan (Dawn)", "Son Posta (Last Post)" , "Akşam (Evening)", "İkdam (Advancement)" and "Vakit (Time)". The author considers various press publications and analyzes the social and political transformations of the Turkish Republic. He also describes the image of the USSR in the periodic press of Turkey in the early days of the Second World War. The methodological basis of this research is constructed on the basic principles of modern historical science: historicism and scientific objectivity, as well as the general scientific methods: analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty of the presented study lies in the very formulation of the named topic: on the basis of an analysis of the Turkish press, the author seeks to reveal the image of the Soviet Union in the Turkish Republic in the early days of the Second World War. The article's main conclusion is that during the initial period of the Second World War, the Turkish press, on the whole, contained varying opinions on the major international issues of the time, without becoming uniquely on the side of Germany.

Keywords: Image of USSR, Turkish Press, Neutrality of Turkey, World War II, International Relations, Foreign Policy of Turkey, History of Turkey, Mass Media, Newspaper, USSR

Review: The research subject of this article is a fragment from Katib Chelebi's "Cihannuma" ("Description of the World"), which contains valuable information on the peoples and parts of the region of the Western Caucasus. Katib Chelebi was a prominent cartographer, geographer, and historian of the Ottoman Empire of the 17th century. His work "Cihannuma" ("Description of the world") contains within itself valuable information about the peoples and countries of different parts of the world. The Western Caucasus is presented in a brief but informative narration, in which we find descriptions of the parts and peoples of this region. Upon writing this article, the author conducted an analysis and generalization of the main information indicated in the above-named work. In translating the relevant passage of the "Cihannuma", the author used the main theoretical and practical methods of historical research. The scientific novelty of this research is defined by its introduction into scientific circulation of the previously not studied, as well as unpublished in Russian, valuable passage from the work of Katib Chelebi. In connection with this, the indicated passage will supplement the already available information on the peoples and various regions of the Western Caucasus.

Keywords: Abaza, The Black Sea, The Western Caucasus, Cihannuma, Ibrahim Muteferrika, Katib Chelebi, Circassians, Sukhum, Sudjuk, Gelendzhik

Review: The article presents an analysis of the texts of Synodic-memorials. The author examined in detail the composition of the synodic preface and those parts of the text that contain common memory. The article places its focus on the insertion of a list of deaths, considering the oldest surviving lists. The correlation of the parts of the texts of these monuments allows us to talk about the formative stages of the tradition of compiling the Synodic-memorial form and about the practice of inserting into it textual inscriptions that indicate the particularities of the local practice of commemorating in the context of a single tradition. The study of this topic implies the study of the attitude in Old Russian society towards the deceases from an unnatural death as a complex socio-cultural phenomenon. In this article, the method of comparative analysis is applied to the research: to determine the origins of the formation and further development of the features of the memorial practice in Russian spiritual culture, from the adoption of Christianity to the beginning of the 16th century. As a result of the author's study of the Lyubezki Synodic and the Novgorod I chronicles, which mention those deceased from sudden death, the author confirmed the scientific viewpoint that there was a general commemoration starting from at least 13th century. The examination of the content of synodic prefaces' edits has allowed the author to agree with the viewpoint that the first edition of the so-called Trekhclovniy preface was composed earlier than the middle of the 15th century. The most ancient Synodics, containing lists of deaths, are currently those of Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery and St. Nilus of Sora, compiled in 1479 and 1492 respectively. The beginning of the unfolding of the very practice of commemorating the deceased who died suddenly should be attributed to the 1220s. These monuments attest significant changes in the practice of composing texts with the commemoration of those who died suddenly, and also examples of a gradual elaboration of the synodic preface form.

Keywords: enumeration deaths, wrong death, three-word preface, synodik preface, common memory, Synodic, commemoration practice, Russian spiritual culture, funeral tradition, vain death

Review: The subject of this study is the work of the Azerbaijani delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The research object of this study is the documents adopted by the Azerbaijani delegation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The relevance of this research topic comes from the fact that this issue has not been sufficiently widely studied in Azerbaijani historical sciences. The aim of this article is to give a description of the Azerbaijani delegation's position in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The theoretical significance of the presented research lies in that its results can be applied in the study of the role of the PACE in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The results of this research can be used in the writing of scientific papers and the composition of lecture courses on the history of Azerbaijan in higher educational institutions of Russia.The article's research methodology is constructed on the basis of using the method of comparative analysis, in identifying the cause and effect relationship of events, in the critical approach to the scientific sources used, in comparing the facts available in the sources, and in analyzing and generalizing the results obtained.The article is focused on the work of the Azerbaijani delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The author analyses the documents adopted by the Azerbaijani delegation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In particular, the organization's positive attitude towards Azerbaijan is demonstrated by the election of I. Aliyev and S. Seidov to the post of vice-presidents of the PACE. In the modern period, as a logical consequence of the work done and the reforms carried out with its concrete, practical activities in the field of transformation, Azerbaijan has proved that it is a worthy member of the named organization.

Keywords: charter, session, status, program, structure, delegate, history, Council of Europe, organization, legislature

Review: The article examines the process of formation and evolution of the investment policy of the Republic of Bashkortostan during the period of the market reforms of the 1990s and the modernization transit of the early 21st century. The subject of this research is the formation of the regional investment legislation and the interaction principles of the executive authorities of Bashkortostan with the subjects of investment activities within the context of the contemporary phase of the socio-economic history of Bashkortostan. The author focuses attention on such aspects of the named topic as Bashkortostan hosting international exhibitions and investment forums, the establishment of a banking business center in Ufa, the construction of technology parks, and the creation of territories of advanced socio-economic development (TOSER). The study's aim is to identify the key features and results of the investment strategy of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the 1990s - 2010s. The study's research methodology was determined by the modernization paradigm of the historical process in question, taking into consideration the variation of civilizational and regional development models. The author carried out his research on the basis of the systematic approach, using the special methods of retrospection, actualization, comparative historical, and other methods. The article's novelty lies in its identification and synthesis of the factual material that thus permits to recreate a scientifically objective picture of the formation of the investment strategy of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The presented periodization of the investment process in Bashkortostan is derived from the development of the legislative framework of the region's investment policy and the dynamics of the quantitative indicators and target vectors of attracting investment capital to the regional economy in the 1990s, 2000–2011, 2012–2017. The author comes to the conclusion that the contemporary history of the Republic of Bashkortostan clearly demonstrates the possibilities and prospects of its investment policy as an effective mechanism for the development and modernization of the economic, technological and socio-cultural space of the Russian regions.

Keywords: oil and gas forums, oil and gas exhibitions, banking business, investments, investment policy, Russian modernization, history of the Republic of Bashkortostan, contemporary history of Russia, industrial clusters, science and technology parks