TNT History Archives: The Story Behind a Mansion's Walls

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(GazeteKadıköy 23-29 November 2018)



                Looks pretty good even before rehab.

One of the most majestic buildings in Moda, Istanbul, is the Mahmut
Muhtar Paşa Köşkü, also known as Mermer Konak, that is now
located within the campus of the Istanbul Kadıköy Lisesi (high school).

The köşk (mansion) is desperately in need of restoration. Its history
dates to the 1870s when an Italian architect built it for banker Alfred
Frederic James Barker, who lived in the mansion with his family for
10 years.  After the earthquake of 1894, the mansion was sold to a
Greek named Dimitri Veldemi.


                              A staircase fit for a pasha.


Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Paşa, an Ottoman statesman, scientist and Prime
Minister, bought the building from Veldemi.  Gazi Muhtar was the
first Ottoman administrator to recommend the adoption of the
international time system and the 'Milâdi' (Christian) calendar.  He
had been a hero of the ''93 War' (Turkish-Russian War of 1878) and
served as the Ottoman representative in Cairo from 1885 to 1906.


                  Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Paşa

Gazi Ahmet Muhtar in Egypt see this previous TNT report for 
more on his Cairo days.

Gazi Muhtar gave the mansion to his newly married son Mahmut
Muhtar Paşa, who was later the Ottoman Navy Minister for 90 days
in his father's 1912 government, and whose bride was Princess
Nimetullah Sultan, the daughter of Egyptian Khedive İsmail Paşa.
The couple lived in the home from 1897 to 1929.  It had an
electricity plant in the garden, at a time when there was no regular
electrical grid on the Anatolian side of  Istanbul.


                Mahmut Muhtar Paşa

But Mahmut Muhtar Paşa found himself in great difficulty
because of two warships he had ordered to be built in England
while Navy Minister.  The 'Sultan Osman' and the 'Reşadiye'
warships were commandeered by Winston Churchill in August
1914, as World War I loomed and Mahmut Muhtar Paşa was
found liable for the warships not being  delivered to Turkey
by a court of the new Turkish Republic in 1929.  He was forced to
pay 22,000 pieces of gold in compensation.



Mahmut Muhtar Paşa, stung by this stain on the family's reputation,
left the mansion and settled in Cairo.  He died on a cruise in 1935.
His family, though, was left destitute in Cairo by the revolution of
1952 and returned to the mansion in Moda.  The family held an
auction in 1956 and the land was purchased at the auction by the
National Ministry of Education, which turned the building into
the Kadıköy Kız Lisesi (high school for girls).  In 2002 the school
was made co-ed and the name was changed to Istanbul Kadıköy
Lisesi in 2008.  Based on a decision in 2017, the mansion is now
scheduled to be restored.




                                      Moda (mark)

Holy Book Sales for Yacht Parties and Nightclubs

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 29 November 2018)



         'Hoja' Adnan S. and his sacred bait.

Calling as if they were part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs,
a gang of 35 scammers sold Korans and other religious books to
hapless citizens.  In 8 months the gang called 30,000 people and
made off with 2.7 million TL (about $600,000), sending their
'customers' blank pages instead of holy books. The gang used the
money at nightclubs and for yacht parties (!).

Last month, a citizen called police to complain that the Koran he
ordered from a caller using a number beginning with '0850', arrived at
his home as blank pieces of paper, rather than as a  Koran.  Police
were able to trace the calls to supposed call centers in the Bağcılar
and Yenibosna sections of Istanbul. 


     Prayer sessions on the birthday yacht.

Police determined that Adnan S., his girlfriend and Sabriye Ö.
organized the call centers from where citizens were called, especially
on days of religious significance such as 'kandil' and 'mevlit'.  The callers
told their prey that 10% of the proceeds would be sent to Moslems in
Arakan (Miyanmar) and Palestine.  Police arrested Adnan S., his
girlfriend, 'theologian' Mehmet Seyitoğlu and one other individual.
31 others involved with the gang were put under judicial monitoring.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has filed a complaint against the
gang, as well.

With his 'earnings', Adnan S. held a birthday party for himself on a
luxury yacht, where most of the party-goers were workers from the
call centers.  The gang also frequented nightclubs for party outings.



Worn out after team-building nightclub sessions.

Iraq War's Shocking and Awful Leftover

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 November 2018)


   This is what's known as 'collateral damage'.

Truck driver Şeymus İlan took a job with a construction company to
bring supplies to an American base in Iraq.  İlan departed Mardin with
a load of gravel on 17 March 2005, as part of a convoy.  However, İlan
got a flat tire, fell back from the convoy and then rushed alone to make
it to the base in Mosul.

One hundred meters from his delivery point, İlan was shot by U.S.
soldiers at the entrance to the base.  After 15 days in the hospital, İlan
died but his death was kept secret from his wife, 3 children and his
parents.  They were told by U.S. and company officials that İlan had
been taken to the U.S. hospital at Ramstein, Germany, for treatment.

Sometime later, U.S. Army Captain Andrew S. Lunoff wrote a letter
to İlan's family, explaining that İlan had been mistakenly shot by U.S.
soldiers on 18 March 2005.  Lunoff added that İlan's identity had been
recorded as 'John Doe' and his body was burned (!).  İlan's family filed
a compensation suit in Istanbul against the construction company, with
his wife Zekiye İlan, their 3 children and his parents demanding
restitution.


                Whoops!


The Turkish firm Gözal asserted that it bore no responsibility for İlan's
death, which they claimed occurred when İlan failed to stop as ordered
by U.S. soldiers.  Another firm involved, Serka İnşaat, claimed that
İlan had not been its employee and distanced itself from the incident.
Nevertheless, a court-appointed expert witness found that the two firms
were each 40% liable and that İlan bore 20% of the blame for failing to
respond to the U.S. soldiers' warnings and gestures.

The two Turkish firms were ordered to pay Zekiye İlan 1,254,000 TL
in material compensation and 80,000 TL for her suffering.  The 3
children and parents were awarded 931,000 in material compensation
and 65,000 TL for their suffering.  The two firms are appealing the
verdict.


                       Not a pretty picture.