The Statue of Liberty: Paid in Turkey

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 12 August 2018)


The Turkish Lira was a bit stronger in those days...

İYİ Party Chairman Meral Akşener has reacted to U.S. President
Trump's Twitter announcement of sanctions against Turkey, concerning
an increased in tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum exports to the
U.S. by posting her own Twitter message: "Dear President Trump,
how can you talk about 'freedom' to the country whose money paid
for the Statue of Liberty?!"


               Meral hanım anti-tweeted DJT.

Originally, the Statue of Liberty was to be erected in Egypt, which
was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. However, Ottoman
Sultan Abdülaziz, who paid for the statue in cash, ultimately
abandoned the project, thinking that it would disturb the local
populace in Egypt (see futher explanation below).  After the statue
was completed it was erected in New York harbor in the U.S.

//Ed. Note: the following 'historical background' on this subject
comes from the website 'Nation of Turks, The Most Civilized 
People in the World' (!)//

The Statue of Liberty is a majestic sculpture that towers above Liberty Island 

at the entrance to New York Harbor. This figure of a woman draped in a loose 

robe holding a glowing torch in her uplifted right hand is renowned throughout the

 world. It is a symbol of the United States and a beacon of freedom to people

 throughout the world. The Statue is a monumental feat of sculpture, 

engineering and architecture, which this year celebrates its 125^th anniversary.

The purpose of this article is to correct an inaccuracy in the history of the Statue,

and put it in true historical perspective. Common knowledge tells us that this Statue 

was a gift by the people of France to the United States on the occasion of the 

100^th anniversary of the founding of this country. In fact, the Statue did not belong 

to France; it was originally intended for a different locale – the City of Port Said of 

Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea, at that time a Turkish soil. The Statue, “The Light 

of Asia” was ordered in the name of the Turkish sultan Abdul Aziz (1861-1876) to 

celebrate the inauguration of the Suez Canal, and the money was paid from the

 Turkish Treasury. The entrance of the Canal was to be crowned with a statue 

depicting a woman towering above the harbor. She was to be draped in a graceful 

loose robe, wearing a crown with seven spikes on her head to represent the 

Ottoman Sultan whose title was the “King of Seven Seas.”

The order for this Statue was placed with Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the foremost

 sculptor in France. A socialite, Isabelle Eugenie Boyer (widow of the Singer 

sewing machines inventor Isaac Singer) posed as a model for the Statue. Bartholdi 

completed the copper and steel frame of the Statue in Paris, working together

 with Gustave Eiffel, another technical genius.

When the Statue was completed, Egypt had won its independence from the 

Ottomans; the new Egyptian ruler, Hidiv Ismail, objected to the Statue on two 

grounds; first, an imposing structure rose from the bosom of the sea could have 

impressed people, and it could become a subject of idolatry, a mortal sin in Islam. 

Second, as the Statue represented a woman this might cause disturbances in a 

Muslim country. Under the circumstances the enterprise was suspended, and the

 Statue was put in storage in France until a suitable location could be found. 

At that time, the Ottoman Empire was in turmoil; beleaguered with endless wars 

and internal problems, and the Turks had forgotten that they had paid for and 

owned the Statue.

Historically, from the time of Marquis de la Fayette there existed a strong friendship 

between the United States and France. An organization called “The French-

American Friendship Society” was founded to promote this friendship even further. 

Mr. Edouard Laboulaye, a politician and a legal scholar was its president. Aware

 of the existence of the Statue, he envisioned it as a monument to the U.S. 

independence as well as to the ideal of liberty shared by both people. At that time 

the United States was on the rise with a whirlwind dynamism. On January 1, 1863, 

the 13^th Amendment abolished slavery.

France and the United States raised funds for this project; but those funds had nothing 

to do with the Statue per se; they covered the construction of the foundation and 

the pedestal, the refurbishing work, shipping and handling, erection, additional 

engineering and the architectural expenses as well as making changes to the face;

Bartholdi made an alteration by putting his mother Charline’s face on it.

The French conveniently got credit on the Turks without even a token reference 

to the Turkish generosity. By right, the Statue itself which is an enduring symbol 

of freedom, opportunity and hope can actually be considered a gift from the Turkish

people.

Ayhan Ozer

Pennington, NJ

23rd October 2011

                      SoL's original destination.