AlexVarlik

In memory of my Turkish great-grandfather Cemalettin, officer of the Ottoman imperial army.

First picture taken in 1915 on the Palestinian front where Ottoman troops were facing the British army (Sitting in the middle surrounded by two of his soldiers)

Second picture taken in 1917 in the British prison/camp of Egypt. He is seen sitting in the middle next to his brother Mehmet on the right who is reading the French newspaper « La Bourse ». His brother died during the detention.

These pictures were taken with my grandfather’s Voigtländer camera (third picture).

My grandfather fought on the Palestine front when he was captured by the British army with his troops and sent to a prison/camp located in Egypt for 2 years. He was then transferred, like most of the Ottoman officers, to India by boat where he stayed few months before being freed. He managed to come back to Turkey by foot after the end of the war.

During the transfer to Egypt, my grandfather wrote in his diary: "... we were abandoned, my soldiers were broken by cholera, the British army who followed us, came and captured us; We walked towards Egypt, the Palestinians threw us stones, s**t, they spitted at us all the way! »

For memory, the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War in 1914 on the side of the Central Powers (including Germany and the Austria-Hungary empire)

On June 5th, 1916, the Arabs, citizens of the Ottoman Empire for the last 400 years betrayed the Empire and launched their revolt against the Ottoman troops. The British promised financial and military support of a revolt and the recognition of an independent Arab state after the war. We all know how it ended...

The Allies hoped that an Arab revolt would divert enemy resources and disrupt an alarming pattern of Ottoman victories, such as their triumph at the Battle of Gallipoli (February 1915-January 1916) and their successful siege of British troops in the city of K*t, 160 kilometres south of Baghdad (December 1915-April 1916), which it did eventually.

The rest is history.

Utku Varlık

Memories of a great evening on the Bosphorus at Suna’nın Yeri Kandilli with my old friend Seb who came to visit me in Istanbul in August 🦁🦁

Istanbul rocks ❤️

Discover Istanbul this autumn, reserve your room at ⚜️GEORGES⚜️

www.georges.com / [email protected]

GEORGES HOTEL GALATA GoTurkey

Une très belle après-midi dans le Marais avec Esra et Fabrice ❤️

Dernière journée à Paris avant mon retour à Istanbul.