TNT History Mini-Series: Bekir Ağa Prison - Turks in Turkish Hands/Part XIV

//Ed. note: In this portion of his story, Süleyman Sırrı 
returns to his time in Bekir Ağa Prison to relate some more
details about his experiences prior to his suicide attempt
and subsequent release.//




Rıza Nur's book about the 'secret society', in which
Sırrı is mentioned.  Rıza Nur was himself trained
as a physician and later became a politician, 
spending 3 months in Bekir Ağa with Sırrı for his
opposition to the CUP.


In his book "Cemiyet-i Hafiye" (secret society), Rıza Nur Bey wrote
about my suicide attempt, which I described above:

"Weary of the beatings and the threats of hanging, Sırrı Efendi lost his
senses and hung himself in the lavatory.  Fortunately, just at that
moment someone entering the lavatory saw him and saved him. Sırrı
slumped to the floor in an unconscious state.  Salim Efendi (prison
warden) got word of the incident, came to the scene with his whip and
thoroughly thrashed the poor fellow.  Sırra was then sent to Haydarpaşa
Hospital and it took two days for him to come to his senses."

"When Sırrı personally told me that he did not even feel the whipping I
judged that this was scientifically correct because the asphyxia resulting
from the benumbing carbon dioxide in his heart had accumulated in his
blood, as well.  At the hospital, the wounds inflicted by the whip were
treated by the nurses, who were well aware of what had happened."



It was the beginning of the month of Ramazan.  The investigation
committee (interrogation team) had completed its work and submitted
its findings to the court martial.  As I have already described above,
each evening together with one of the guards, we would bring gas cans
to the dormitories. One evening I saw a newspaper in the lawyers
barracks and I immediately relayed the news to my friends:  Dr. Münir,
Hafız, Sami, Hamdi and my father-in-law had been summoned to the
court martial.   So we now knew that the proceedings had begun. 

Based on what we had experienced from the investigation committee,
we knew from the torture they had inflicted that the court martial would
order the same degree of beatings and torture for us, stranding us again
in a world of torment.  Those who were taken to court martial did not
return to our dungeon.  We thought about what the court martial would
do with us and decided upon a strategy: whenever any of us were
summoned to court martial, afterwards, while walking by our windows,
we would wear our 'fez' (hats) backwards if we received good treatment
and forwards over our eyebrows if all hope was lost and the
torture was to continue.  In this way, we would relay a message to the
remaining other about what to expect.


        Ottoman officers wearing the 'fez'.

Four of our friends were taken to court martial and two hours later they
passed by our windows, heading toward another barracks.  When we
saw that their hats were turned backwards our hearts were filled with
joy.  The next day, some others were taken to court martial and we saw
as they returned, passing by our windows, that their hats were turned
backwards, too.

I was in the next group called to the court martial, and we were buoyed by
what we had seen already from our other friends' backward hats as they
had passed by.  So we became less  anxious.  We had also heard that the
English embassy had made an appeal to the War Ministry for our
acquittal and release.  I was never able to confirm this information,
though.

//END of PART XIV//