they began arresting Turkish nationalists and intellectuals,
sending them into exile on the island of Malta in the middle
of the Mediterranean Sea. One of the 144 exiles was Ahmet
Ağaoğlu, originally from Azerbaijan. His son Samet Ağaoğlu
wrote a book about his father's friends and these letters from
Ahmet Ağaoğlu's Malta exile are included toward the end of
the book.
Ahmet Ağaoğlu (Agayev) was born in 1969 in Şuşa, part of
the Karabagh region of Azerbaijan. He went to Russian high
schools in Şuşa and Tblisi and attended universities in St.
Petersburg and France before returning to Azerbaijan filled
with Islamic and Pan-Turkic zeal. He married Sitâre hanım,
the only daughter of the Vezirofs, a leading family of Karabagh.
While in Paris, Ağaoğlu had become friends with Dr. Nâzım
and Ahmet Riza, young Turkish intellectuals who eventually
lured him and his family to Istanbul, where Ağaoğlu flourished
as a Young Turk activist and journalist, now opposed to Islam
and Ottomanism and a strong anti-Russian proponent of
secularism and Pan-Turkism. As an advisor, he accompanied
Nuri Paşa, the commander of the ‘Kafkas İslam Ordusu’
(Ottoman Turkey’s ‘Caucasus Islamic Army’) and brother of
Enver Paşa, to Azerbaijan in the closing months of World War I
(Summer-Fall 1918).
Once Ağaoğlu returned from Azerbaijan to Istanbul, in December
1918, the city was awaiting imminent British occupation. Like
many other intellectuals and members of the Ittihat ve Terakki
Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress) government, he was
rounded up at the behest of the occupying British in March 1919
and put first into Bekirağa Bölümü, a military prison on the
campus of Istanbul University in the Beyazit section of Istanbul.
Court martials began for the prisoners and Ağaoğlu was suddenly
transferred from Bekirağa Bölümü to the Arabian Han, a British-
controlled jail.
1- Atıf Bey, 2- Muammer Bey, 3- Zekeriya Bey, 4- Rıza Bey (Bursa
mebusu) 5- Rıza Bey, 6- Midhat Şükrü Bey, 7- Sudi Bey, 8-Şükrü Bey,
9-Tahsin Bey, 10- Tevfik Hadi Bey, 11-Sabri Bey, 12- Ali İhsan Paşa,
17- Hacı Adil Bey, 18- Halil Menteş, 19- Ahmet Ağayef Bey (Ağaoğlu),
20- Ahmet Nesimi Bey, 21- Sabit Bey, 22- İzmitli Rifat Efendi,
23- Fevzi Bey, 24- Binbaşı Nevzat Bey, 25- Ahmet Bey, 26- Macit Bey,
27- Binbaşı Hazım Bey, 28- Midhat Akif Bey, 29- Ferit Bey,
30- İbrahim Bey, 31- Şükrü Kaya Bey, 32- Hüseyin Cahit Bey,
33- Salah Cimcoz Bey
Ahmet Ağaoğlu’s son Samet Ağaoğlu, himself a famous Turkish
poet, wrote about seeing his father on the deck of ship at anchor
near Kız Kulesi, off the coast of Üsküdar, standing next to Ziya
Gökalp, the famous Turkish intellectual and Pan-Turkism proponent.
The ship headed for Malta with 78 prisoners on 28 May 1919 but
first dropped off 12 of them, including Ağaoğlu and Gökalp, at
Limni/Mondros Island in the northern Aegean Sea. After two
months there, Ağaoğlu was transported to Malta, as was Gökalp,
for the duration of his exile, which ended in April 1921.
The end of the Malta exile was facilitated by an agreement between
the Kemalist governnment and the British, signed in London on
16 March 1921, whereby British prisoners held by the Kemalist
government were swapped for the Turkish Malta exiles. The British
had orignally intended to put the Turks on trial and execute some of
them. However, Mustafa Kemal’s threat to execute the British
prisoners he held if any of the Turkish exiles were executed prompted
the British to accede to the swap.
Returning to Istanbul, Ağaoğlu took a ship to İnebolu on the central
Black Sea coast and from there made his way to Ankara to meet
Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) and to join in the Turkish War of
Independence effort.
Herewith, Ağaoğlu’s letters to his wife from Malta, beginning with
one from her to him, excerpted from the end of Samet Ağaoğlu’s book
“Babamın Arkadaşları” (My Father’s Friends)://
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the Turkish exiles in Malta.
19 February 1920
“My Dear Ahmet;
Thank God, I’ve received a letter from you. We are all fine,
except that we miss you. May God give this matter a favorable ending.
The children are all well. Today was mail day and I was so happy to
get one from you because when I do it’s like talking with you. May
God send you quickly to us. I saw you in my dream last night, which
made me very happy. May God keep you well over there. Kerim and
Emir beys send their regards to you. They are helping us, too, so
don’t worry about us. Give my regards to Esat Paşa (eye doctor Esat
Paşa) and Ziya Bey (Ziya Gökalp). Their wives are well. We’re
getting together. I kiss your eyes and your face. What more can I
write.”
don’t worry about us. Give my regards to Esat Paşa (eye doctor Esat
Paşa) and Ziya Bey (Ziya Gökalp). Their wives are well. We’re
getting together. I kiss your eyes and your face. What more can I
write.”
Malta: Polveriste: 17 May 1920
“My Dear Sitâre and (his sister) Hamay!
It’s been two weeks since I received a letter from you. I’m
certain that they (authorities) are screening our letters and sometimes
yours, too. What’s their aim, I wonder? Are they trying to annoy us
mentally and disrupt our morale? Why should you be subjected to
this undeserved treatment? If their goal is to crush our morale then,
of course, they will never succeed because we trust in our rights and
in justice. God willing, one day that right and justice will come to
fruition. Our duty is to remain patient and forbearing until then.
Based on what I’m hearing from Istanbul, it’s enough for me to try
to picture the difficulties and problems you are experiencing there!
When I think about it I just about go crazy. How are you getting by?
What are you doing? Have Hüseyin (his brother) and Bahış (his
nephew) been trying to help you? The news coming from the
Caucasus indicates that any hope of them coming (to Istanbul) is
fading fast. If they haven’t come by now, they won’t be able to come
henceforth. What will you do then? This is the question that bothers
me the most. Are you talking with Abdülali Bey? In any case, for
the love of God, let me know in detail about your situation and how
you are getting by. Have each of the children write me a letter. I
haven’t gotten letters from Abdurrahman and Süreyya for quite some
time. As for me, you can be absolutely sure that I’m well and safe,
thank God. Give me best to all friends and acquantances and cousins.
I kiss all of your eyes.”
Malta: Polverista: 27 May 1920
“My Dear Sitâre and Humay!
Again, after your letter of 4 May, I have had no word from
you. Today was mail day and we all ran to get our mail but, alas, I was
among those who came up empty-handed. Although some of the
fellows got mail, others didn’t. I’m certain your sending me mail with
each opportunity! But what can we do? They’re looking at our mail
and I’m sure they’re doing the same thing to you. But we will wait
them out!
With trust in God and fortitude, we will wait expectantly for God’s
actions concerning our fate. We will never be saddened by this unjust
fate that has befallen us, no matter the amount of insults and oppression
we face! We must never forget that our duty is to bear all of this with
fortitude and perseverance! My health and safety are just fine here,
thank God. My thoughts are all with you. The news from the Caucasus
indicates that there is no hope of Hüseyin being able to come (to
Istanbul) henceforth. Only God can help you now! Your situation is
naturally making me excessively vexed and pained. But I’m consoling
myself with the hope that patience and forbearance will keep us together.
Have the children finished their exams? How are you all doing? How
are you spending Ramazan? God willing, with Ramazan’s blessing all
of us who are unjustly treated will be assuaged. If you haven’t gotten
any money from Hüseyin, please don’t hesitate to go ahead and sell
whatever you have. Let me know in detail what your situation is. Why
have you stopped sending me letters? The others here are getting them.
I kiss your and the children’s faces. If the children have finished their
tests have each of them write me a separate letter. More kisses and
regards.”
Polverista (powder magazine) Prison in Valletta, Malta.
Malta: Polverista: 21 November 1920
“My Dear Sitâre and Humay!
Although the happy news coming from near and far doesn’t
completely assuage my pain and homesickness, it does lighten
the burden somewhat and gives a person comfort and hope in
bearing up under the increasing weight of this long separation!
So let things continue like this and in the end the God of the
Turks will open up the doors of compassion, consider these
tests to be sufficient, bestow His special goodness and then we
will be on our way. In any case, of what importance are we?
He is the real great one! Let Him determine the future and
everything will be put in place. Today was like a Spring day!
The sun was shining, the air was clean and fresh to the extent
that taking a breath was a renewing experience. Toward evening
I went to a small hill opposite us: it was completely green, with
even some yellow flowers in a few places. Do you know what I
saw at the very top of the hill? There were prisoners like me who
had brought tea that they were drinking as they sat on the green
grass. Of course, they invited me to join them! You must know
what a thrill it was for me to have that cup of tea: my mind went
far back to the days of my youth in Karabagh, to the beautiful
mountains of that fortress, to “Başıyüce”, “Taşaltı”, “Haydar
düzü”, “Şahneşi” and “Deliktaş”. I was roaming there once again.
The entire past, all relatives, friends, our house, our streets, our
gardens – each one passed in front of me! Then, though, I thought
of you and your current situation, which so saddened me! All of
this happened in 3 minutes and I chuckled, remembering that life
is but a dream. With so much time passing and the distance
involved – will these days pass, will we ever see each other again?
Certainly we will reunite, we will talk and, God willing, soon,
because the time has come for justice to show itself! My best
regards to all friends and acquaintances. What’s happened about
the house? I kiss all of your eyes and hope that we will meet soon,
God willing.”
Malta, Polverista: 29 November 1920
“My Dear Sitâre and Humay!
As I write this letter the weather outside is as nice as a
day in the month of May. The yellow flowers on the hill opposite
me have blossomed and everywhere there is greenery. I was on the
balcony a moment ago watching the ships in the harbor and thinking
of you. I said to myself, wouldn’t it be nice for one of those ships to
take me to you so I could see the lovely faces I have been denied
seeing for two years because of this very unjust, very cruel separation!
As I was dreaming this, Fahri Paşa, the hero of Yemen, said to me
from the head of the balcony ‘Ahmet Bey, what are you thinking?
Are you feeling bad?’ In reply, I said ‘Ah Paşa, is there anyone
among us who doesn’t feel bad? It’s just that some us of feel worse
on some days and today seems to be my day to feel bad!’ This is a
characteristic of being a prisoner. Some people feel a terrific sadness
and grief that engenders longing, even without knowing the reasons
for it. He turns his eyes toward his loved ones and wants to be with
them so desperately. At such a time, when one writes down these
feelings it’s as if he’s relieved of them and he feels better. Today is
mail day, when I’ll feel as though you’re sitting across from me and
talking with me! But only on the condition that you don’t feel bad!
You can be sure that my health is good and I don’t have any particular
worry, other than missing you so much. God willing, this too will
soon pass, in any case. God willing, we will be saved together with
our entire country and all will be set right. I only ask from God that,
until that time, He gives both you and I the patience and health we
need. I await detailed news about your situation. This year the winter
in Istanbul has been very severe. How are you getting along?
However much Humay and the girls write consoling words on this
subject, I suspect that these words have been written for my benefit!
What’s happened about the house? My regards to all friends and
acquaintances and especially to Kerim and Emir Beys. I kiss all of
your eyes.”
//END PART I//
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