/
/Ed. note: The CUP was more secular than religious and
ever-suspicious of fervent Islamists, who were generally
supporters of deposed Sultan Abdülhamid II.
But anyone who spoke ill of the CUP or someone with
links to the CUP was subject to arrest without charge
and imprisonment in Bekir Ağa.
Herewith, Süleyman Sırrı begins to relate anecdotes about
some of his more unusual prison mates.//
An uprising by conservative Moslems oppossed to the CUP was
harshly put down by the CUP on 31 March 1909 (13 April,
according to today's calendar.)
Odd Prisoners
Our prison of notorious tortures made us aware of other things. A
member of the 'ulema' (Moslem clergy) was relating a dream to a friend
at a coffeehouse in Beyazit. In his dream the entire Islamic world had
been cleansed, everyone held a 'Sancak-ı Şerif' (flag of the prophet
unfurled only for a holy war) and a 'Kelime-i Tevhid (declaration of
God's unity) banner. All Islam had come together in Beyazit in his
dream.
The clergyman was overheard by a CUP member, who had him arrested
for being a member of the 'secret society'. Without even being
questioned, the clergyman was beaten and thrown into Bekir Ağa Prison.
Finally, he was summoned to a court martial, where he explained that
he had merely been relating a dream and he swore he would never
relate another one, so he was released.
A former official of the Ministry of Public Works went to see the
Minster, (Bedros) Hallaçyan Efendi, who had guests at the time. This
fellow was rather rude and even followed Hallaçyan Efendi to his
ministerial office, where Hallaçyan harshly complained about the
fellow's behavior. The fellow was arrested and sent to the police station
but released because of insufficient grounds for arrest.
The next day, though, when he went to his office, he was barred from
entering. Outraged that an official like himself could be fired in such
a way in the 'Meşrütiyet' (constitutional government) period, without
a hearing and with no explanation, he appealed to the Prime Minister's
office but received no reply. Further outraged, he sent a sarcastic note
to Hallaçyan, who reacted by having the fellow arrested and sent to
Bekir Ağa Prison.
After the customary intial beating, the fellow came to our area. He
seemed to us like a pleasant man and he knew about us. I went over
to talk with him and comforted him about the rough treatment,
noting that all of us had gotten our share. He was reluctant to speak. I
offered him a cigarette and noticed that his feet were badly swelled
from the 'falaka' (feet rope-tied for caning). So I had some onions
boiled and salted as salve for his swelled feet. In gratitude, he told me
about his arrest and that he had heard that our 'crimes' would be
punished with execution.
At night Salim (prison warden) came looking for "the fellow who wrote
the sarcastic note to Hullaçyan." The fellow was beaten and put into a
special cell. Whenever Salim came at night I pretended to be asleep
and avoided his wrath, whereas those of us who were awake and
standing around would get a beating. In any case, the next day an officer
came, left his sword with the guard and asked to see the fellow in the cell,
which was pitch dark. The officer took the fellow by the hand and out of
the cell. We later learned that this fellow's brother was a member of the
Court Martial staff.
Ottoman-era court martial scene.
//END of PART VII//
