Mağmumi, in exile in Cairo, took note of the visit to Sofia,
Bulgaria, by Ottoman Paris Ambassador Salih Münir Paşa,
who met there with King Ferdinand.
Rather than politics, though, Mağmumi focused on the
contrast between former Ottoman vassal Bulgaria and the
Ottoman Empire, in terms of the quest for the trappings of
European 'civilization'.//
embarrassment of bridges click here for a recent TNT
report reflecting Mağmumi's shame over Istanbul's
Karaköy (Galata) bridge.
I'm Thinking That...
"Türk" Newspaper (Cairo), 9 June 1906
In reading the Istanbul newspapers' accounts of Ambassador Salih
Münir Paşa's visit to Sofia, I was struck by his mention of visits to
zoos, gardens and museums in our former province of Tuna
(Danube). So I asked those who have been to Sofia about this.
It seems that 25 years ago Sofia was like our current provinces of
Edirne, Yanya and Manastır, in that it had dirty and crooked streets,
lacked any degree of municipal care and was devoid of anything of
value besides mosques, barracks and prisons. But in the short
space of time since then, after 'Tuna' became 'Bulgaria' it has
undergone a complete make-over. Now there are wide, straight
avenues, spacious squares, theaters, museums, public gardens,
decorated electric trams and a working telephone system. Sofia
has become a civilized European city.
Bucharest, 1906.
And Varna and Filibe (Plovdiv) have also been Europeanized, but
this evolution is not confined just to Bulgaria. Romania, Serbia and
Greece, which gained independence less than 100 years ago, have
all benefitted from the light of civilization. Similarly, Crete will
soon change and be renewed.
Now let's talk about our provinces and districts. Let alone renewal
and change, day by day they are becoming even more ruined and
ramshackle. Take Edirne, Bursa, Aleppo, Damascus, Baghdad.
These major cities, once capitals themselves, cannot even preserve
their historical treasures. In any one of them, you won't see the
facilities this century demands. In Edirne and Bursa, a stone's throw
from the capital Istanbul, let alone not having electric lights, museums
and telephones, they have a tram pulled by horses or oxen and no
buses at all.
Bursa, 1906.
But let's leave the provinces and districts and focus on the most
important and elegant of cities, with a million residents - Istanbul.
The streets are still paved with broken stones - a situation you won't
find even in the villages of civilized countries. The avenues are
knee-deep in mud and the squares look like seas of mud in the winter
and dust bowls in the summer. And everywhere there are packs of
dogs roaming about.
Tramway construction in Istanbul, 1906.
There are plenty of barracks and every neighborhood has a police
station. But these aren't the structures of civilization, they are the
monuments of oppression and despotism. As long as there is no
rioting or uprising in Paris and London, which have populations of
three million and five million, soldiers won't interfere in a
neighborhood's public order. You won't see a police station. But
with us, besides the police and Gendarmerie, there is a 25,000-man
army at the ready. Still, though, it is too dangerous to go out after
sunset.
Soldiers in Taksim Square, 1906.
This 7-century-old state has no parks or theaters. There should be a
zoo, a history museum and a botanical garden in the capital of a
government that rules three continents. Such things are common in
every district center of Europe and America and even in the cities
of Australia and the new towns of Siberia. In fact, in the cities of
Bulgaria and Romania, which have recently become independent of
us, and even in Africa's Cairo one can find these facilities. The world
sees this and accuses us of being incapable of achieving civilization.
We appear to be the enemy of progress. The Europeans see us as a
barbaric tribe that has camped for a while, without any intention of
settling, ready to flee back to Asia.
Let's rid ourselves of this idleness and stop ignoring the lights of
knowledge. Let's have our share of the precious fruits of modernity.
We should be ashamed of yesterday's Tuna Province and today's
Baghdad. Shall we remain behind the Bulgars and the Serbs we
deride as pig shepherds? People should not be ruled with force,
pressure and oppression. Rather, let's try to use justice and culture.
Let's be part of the civilized world. Let's gather up our citizens'
skills and talents and use them as jewels of civilization. Let them
say that the Turks are civilized, too.
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