Chapter 2
This chapter opens at Hasan Pasha police station where Jamil’s friend, Maksood the
Arab was in charge. Jamil went there to pay a visit to his friend and discuss
the current events. The general tone of this chapter reminds me of Ottoman open-air
folk theatres called orta oyunu. In Orta oyunu there are actors from
different sections of society, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, and Circassians, Laz
(people from the Black Sea region), Arabs, Kurds, and Jews. All ethnic groups of society
were represented. Funny events took place. There were some witty dialogs and
political satire as well as interaction with the audience.
Most of
Chapter 2 is written as dialogs that were aimed at entertaining the readers
while telling the severity of the situation that our heroes found themselves
in.
Once all-mighty
Cup leaders have left the country, and some were under arrest. Some were sent
to the Malta Island by the British authorities and some who were found guilty
of the Armenian massacres were executed without even a trial.
Maksood was
trying to find a hiding place for Special Organisation (TM) member Omer the
Patriot. However, no one was willing to help. Everyone was finding excuses
because they were afraid of the authorities.
Jamil said he could help and he suggested taking Patriot to Dr. Munir’s
home. Dr. Munir was a CUP opponent, therefore, Maksood thought this was
impossible. Jamil insisted and two friends took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul
and went over to Dr. Munir’s home at Caddebostan.
To their surprise, they found Halil Pasha there who was one of the CUP
leaders, a war hero, and Enver Pasha’s uncle.
There Maksood realized that even though Dr. Munir was a critic of the
CUP rule and has written newspaper articles opposing Government policies in the past, he was a loyal friend to Halil Pasha and the nationalist cause.
Another funny character in Dr. Munir’s home was Gulnihal, the
housekeeper. She openly says Gavur- Infidel to the Unionists and supports
Abdulhamit. She says she wouldn’t even give a glass of water to the Unionists,
even in their death bed, without realizing that she is cooking for Unionist
leaders in Dr. Munir’s home.
Chapter 3
Jamil with the help of Neriman was able to get Omer the Patriot out of
his hiding place and bring him to Dr. Munir’s home. However, there was a spy in
the area and he tried to open Neriman’s veil and see her face. Neriman got
startled and yelled out Jamil’s name. Jamil got into a fight with the man and
broke his arm. For that reason, now he is also a suspect and he needs to stay
at Dr. Munir’s home with his friends. He was thinking about getting married to
Neriman however he can’t go back home. Their lives are interrupted.
In their time together at the house, the military man talked about the
war and wondered if there was any way that they could have avoided taking part
in the Great War.
Patriot was more practical he talked about the plans for the future and
informed them that there was another Secret Service organization was being
formed to help with the Nationalist cause. Its name would be Karakol.
Karakol Society was against the Allied occupation of Istanbul and helped
with communication with Ankara and the transportation of volunteers and weapons
to Ankara. It had socialist tendencies and ties with Enver Pasha. Some members
were arrested and sent to Malta and some were able to leave Istanbul and went
to Ankara. After the war, this organization
was dismantled.
Topkapi Palace- Harem
Chapter 4
Dr. Munir read in a newspaper report that American President Woodrow
Wilson approved the Greek occupation of Izmir and surrounding areas at the Paris
Peace Conference. This news saddened all of the soldiers. Their mood is down
and Dr. Munir and Halil Pasha continued to analyze the CUP rule and what
mistakes they have done over the years.
Lieutenant Farook came to the house and let Jamil know that Neriman
wanted to see him; there was a matter that she wanted to talk about. Jamil was
worried if there was something wrong with the family. But Neriman gave him the good
news. She was pregnant. Jamil and Neriman decided to get married immediately.
Chapter 5
Jamil went back home and asked their Imam, Yahya Hodja to marry them.
The couple secretly got married and they were happy. However that night Neriman’s
mother informed the young couple that Neriman’s son Enver told local grocer Haji
that Jamil was back home. Haji was supporting the Freedom and Accord Party which
was Unionists' arch enemy. Fearing a police raid, Jamil left the home and
waited outside somewhere. Their worst fears came true, the police raided their
home. When Neriman turned on the lights of her bedroom, a signal that they had decided
on earlier, Jamil understood that police were in the house.
He waited until it was all over however he didn’t have the heart to go
back and face Neriman. On their wedding night, this had happened and he had to
leave her alone. She must have been so scared.
Jamil decided to go back to Dr. Munir’s home. Unfortunately, there were
police trucks in front of that house as well. The police had raided both homes on
the same night. He witnessed the police arresting his friends and letting them
in the truck.
Pretty soon Jamil realized that in fact, he was lucky. Had he been in
the house, he would have been arrested like the others.
He also realized that he didn’t have anywhere to go. He felt all alone
in the world. The last train also left to Uskudar where he could cross to the
European side. He started walking and when he came to Uskudar pier two hours
later, he didn’t want to wait for the boat there since it was a major area and
police might be looking for him there so he continued walking along the
Bosphorus passed Kulel’ High school and spend the night around there. In the
morning he took the ferry from a smaller ferry station and went to Gulhane Park
near Topkapi Palace.
He slept on a park bench. When he woke up he was some young boys there.
The boys were poor and asked for money and cigarets from him. The way they
talked made him very uncomfortable because with horror he realized that those
boys were offering themselves to soldiers for money.
The war caused so much destruction that on the heart of the mighty
Ottoman Empire where many took refuge before for centuries and no one was
denied help, now the empire’s own children were in this situation. This broke
his heart; he gave some money to the boys and left for Ayasofya.
He had remembered that Lieutenant Rajab was there on duty. He was the
commander of a small unit that was responsible for protecting the ancient
church. Ayasofya was turned into a
mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and now that the city
was under the allied occupation some fear that the Greeks might want to turn
the building back to its original purpose. So to prevent any Greek attack there
was a unit on duty in front of the building.
Rajab was happy to see Jamil and invited him to dinner and to spend the
night partying in a house nearby. Jamil said the country was in a dire
situation but Rajab insisted to have some fun. He also invited someone to sing
and entertain them. Jamil understood that this woman was also a prostitute and
mother of one of the boys that he was in the park. Husniye didn’t know what her
son was up to since every day her son left home carrying a schoolbag.
Thinking about this further depressed Jamil.
While there Jamil learned that Izmir was in fact occupied by the Greek
Army. The next day Rajab informed Jamil that one of the members of the Nigehban
Soldiers group learned that Jamil was staying in the army barracks with the
unit. This group was also associated with the Freedom and Accord Party.
Rajab suggested Jamil go to the Military Museum in the Topkapi Palace
Grounds while he goes to see Maksood for finding a solution for Jamil.
Jamil spent the day looking at old Ottoman swords and rifles wondering
about the lives of the Janissaries.
When Rajab came back he said they have found a room for Jamil in the
Veterans Home.
Titles such as Pasha (general or Government minister), Bey (Gentleman), Hanim (Lady) were also used.
In 1934 Turkish Grand National Assembly gave the surname Ataturk(Father of Turks) to Mustafa Kemal, the founder of the Republic.
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