TNT Coronavirus Edition: Turks Keep Irish Eyes Smiling, 173 Years Later

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 April 2020)

Ireland & Turkey click here for links to a TNT report 
about Irish ties to Atatürk and more details about this 
Drogheda episode.




In 1845, there was a famine in Ireland, which was then under British
oppression, that had lasted for 6 years and cost the lives of a million
of the Irish people.  Because of hunger and diseases, another 2 million
Irish had to go abroad.

At the time, Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid had a Irish doctor named
Joseph who told the Sultan about Ireland's plight.  In response, in 1847
the Sultan sent provision-laden ships to Ireland, without informing
Queen Victoria.  The Ottoman aid reached Dublin on 31 March 1847
but the 3 ships, loaded with grain, were off-loaded in Drogheda, one
of the hardest-hit areas, between 10 and 14 March, and later in Cork
and Dublin.



Thanks to the aid, the people of Drogheda were saved and they never
forgot the 'star and crescent' flags flown from the Turkish ships' masts,
adorning their own buildings with the same 'star and crescent' motif.
The city's football team, Drogheda United, has the symbol on its crest.
In 2012, the team became a 'brother-team' with  the Turkish football
team Trabzonspor.

Not even the coronavirus has been able to split the 173-year friendship
between Turkey and Ireland, with Ankara sending livesaving supplies
to the Irish by plane this time around.




At the 1923 Lausanne Conference where Turkey's independence was
negotiated with the European countries, only Ireland sided with the
Turks on every vote taken.


Drogheda is north of Dublin. (And Baltimorons should take
note of what's north of Drogheda).