serious servant problems at his Vetluga prison camp -
see bold below.//
Definitely not Vetluga.
12 February 1917
Sunday
The weather is
cloudy. Fortunately, it’s not so cold. As soon as I got
up in the morning there
was a noise, a tumult.
Apparently, the
servants are really leaving. Franz came from the Kazarma (main
barracks) together with his friend
Joseph. They shook our hands
when departing and left. Only Dursun remained at
the house.
They were
going to take him too but we asked the Commander to
let him stay (he’s a cook). The servants’ departure has really been
a blow. I felt very bad. Everyone has to get their
own tea in the
morning.
Everyone must do all the duties himself. We even brought
our own lunches.
Seven or eight fellows
from Malaşova came to visit in the afternoon.
Most of them came with the aim of having petitions
written. It seems
that by means of these petitions they want to go to other,
warmer places.
In
mid-afternoon five servant-soldiers came. Two of them were
Hungarian and three were Austrian. One of
the Austrians had
previously been a servant and helped during the change of
houses. I
played chess
continually at night. We chatted and went to bed.
13 February 1917
Monday
The weather is
cloudy. The cold is as it has been. The newspaper is
full of imaginings and
ideas. The problem is always
about Turkey.
The Istanbul and Bosphorus issue is always in the paper. If the
Germans don’t
defend us in this peace then this will really constitute
ingratitude to us for
the favors and great
sacrifices we’ve made for
them. But if they do defend us, of course, we’ll
remain friends
and allies for a
long time. For the Turks’ lives and independence to
be completely assured,
Istanbul and the Bosphorus
must not be
restricted. We must work until this is so (a condition). In any
event,
the Russians
should give the Caucasus autonomous administration.
Iran should be completely free and Egypt
should be ours or be under
our protection. Suez should always be ours. Iraq
should remain
completely
ours. All our islands should be returned to us and we
should get enormous war reparations from
our enemies…today I
worked on making a sketch of the house we live in. Tonight
we learned some
German from Max.
14 February 1917
Wednesday
The weather is
overcast, snow is falling, the wind is blowing. This
morning Istanbullu Hakkı
left here and went to
Şarya station for an
operation. Yet another regrettable incident: Zühdü and Salah had an
argument in the afternoon. I really got mad at Salah. The problem
arose because of a joke. Anyway,
Salah is ill-mannered, immoral.
Damn him! Revenge must be taken in any event. The day passed
with
tension. Then in the evening Salah got into an argument with Çerkes
Mehmet. In mid-afternoon,
Çerkes Mehmet and Hikmet had an
argument. After the evening argument Salah was running his
mouth,
seemingly trying to prove that he
was right and he essentially made us
uncomfortable here
in our own room. We talked with Hikmet in the
evening a bit and I explained all the problems.
He agreed. I’m really
fed up anymore, disgusted. What a scandal! Damn trouble-makers like
Salah!
Because while Turkishness expects benefits from them, on the
contrary it gets nothing but
harm. Wherever he goes, wherever he is he
sows the seeds of intrigue. The aim and goal of the
seed is to pit
everyone against each other. In truth, I find myself unable to
find
the words to
describe how low this is and how completely insensitive
it is to what’s right.
We studied German
somewhat at night. Tonight
Halis, Zühdü and I all had headaches. Halis has been suffering since
yesterday anyway from a cold and a headache. Ah, peace! A person
gets sick here from worry.
Cabinet Changes in
Turkey
15 February 1917
Thursday
The weather is
cloudy but there’s no wind. News: in Riga a German
attack, in Turkey cabinet
changes: Prime Minister
Talat Paşa Bey,
Minister of War Enver Paşa, Minister of Marine Cemal Paşa, who
was
said in Russian
newspapers to have been executed. We walked to the
riverside after lunch. We
learned some German from
Max again.
Today passed with boredom.
Because it’s just so boring to live a life
like this. Ah, our
shortcomings in social upbringing and foundations are
doing bad things to us.
Yes, there’s only so
much interaction and
toleration that can be expected in an environment where immorality
has
passed it limit. And anyway, immorality hides everything under a
curtain of
hypocrisy. Can this be broken
by some power and reality and
truth exposed? Anyway…Turkishness needs us now. May God reform
us.
I thought that by going to a different house I would live more
comfortably and
I told this to Halis
and Zühdü, for them to come to
another house with me. Halis agreed but Zühdü didn’t. Perhaps
his
feelings are such that he wants to fight with his enemies until the end.
16 February 1917
Friday
Today is the
anniversary of my captivity.Ah, a year ago today what a
terrible time I was
having. Erzurum once again
under Russian boots,
our already weak army in retreat and losing strength day by day,
Turkishness’s misfortune rising, all are shaking my memory. The
torments of my miserable past
days and today’s pains were jostling
my
revived existence in a terrible way. I was becoming
completely
dispirited seeing myself at
such a time as this under the northern
moons. My hope was
darkened. It was as if an iron door was closed in
front of great Islam. I was thinking at
this time that I’ll only find
happiness in the bosom of black earth. But
fortune has also shown me
this day, as well, under the burden of a
great many torments. Now my
with from God is to
safely return to my homeland and to find my
parents and brother there. After achieving that I
wish for the strength
and fortitude to work with all my might for my homeland and
Turkishness…the misery and calamities I’ve experienced drive me
always toward
work. But to continue
depends on health…News: our
allies are on the offensive on all fronts. A great many Germans,
together
with officers who will go to school this year have come to
Turkey and are building
roads for lines of transport and
communication. It is understood that this will enable the Turks
to
prepare for an offensive. The Germans have sunk 102 ships, 60 of
them English, in eleven
days. We went to the bath in Malaşova house
in the afternoon. We got cleaned up. Tahir and Nuri offered us tea.
When I
returned I felt light-headed and went to bed early.
//END of PART LXVII//
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