‘A Farewell to Imperial Istanbul’: An Historical Review

This beautiful and emotional story narrates the last days of the Ottoman Empire - a symbol of leadership and protection of the Muslim world.

It is written by a descendant of the Ottoman Empire, Ayse Osmanoglu who tells the story of her family based on  their accounts of being forced into exile. She prefaces the book with a note that this is not a history book or an impartial representation of the story, because after all she is writing about her family. It is however a very poignant account, as she beautifully shows the human side to the end of the Ottoman Empire, while also delving into important historical events.

The backdrop is the end of the First World World - when the British divided the Ottoman Empire’s territories in a way that has created problems in the region to the present day. The familiar scenario is actually triggering at times as I recall the way in which the British brutally divided Mughal India in 1947. There are so many parallels with colonial tactics and legacy in history.

The Ottoman Empire ruled over Palestine since 1516, but in the aftermath of the First World War the British took control of Palestine and many other Ottomans lands with the French taking others. The British promised the Arabs independence and control of the land if they sided with them against the Ottomans; which they consequently did. The British did not keep their promise – and the Arab leaders were tricked. Instead the British drew up the Balfour declaration in 1917 which promised the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine.

A letter dated 2 November 1917 from Arthur James Balfour, British foreign secretary, to Lionel Water Rothschild, who was the leader of the western Jewish community said:

“Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely, Arthur James Balfour”

The Balfour Declaration went against the McMahon-Hussein series of letters in 1915 that promised independence to the Arabs to rule their own separate nation states within Arabia. Hussein Ibn Ali was the emir of Mecca, and Sir Henry McMahon, was the British high commissioner in Egypt.

Following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 divided the Middle East into British and French zones. This led to divisions of levant region - Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine into various French and British-administered areas whereas previously they had come under one Empire. The man-made line drawn to separate them is a cause of problems to this day.

Once the Arab leaders heard about the Sykes-Picot agreement, they were outraged at the u-turn following the McMahon-Hussein correspondence which seemingly supported Arab independence. Based on these fake promises, the Arabs had already stirred up a revolt against the Turks which helped the Ottoman Empire’s downfall.

The Muslims in India, on the other hand, were staunch supporters of the Ottoman Empire, and Muslim leaders campaigned against abolishing the Caliphate despite their own problems under British rule. The Khilafat Movement in India in 1919-22 vehemently protested against the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire after the war. Muslim leaders Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah were vocal on the subject as well. “In April 1934, Jinnah attended meeting of AIML Council that, along with other issues, proposed a delegation to inform viceroy over Palestine problem, unjust Balfour Declaration and deprivations of the Arab inhabitants of Palestine.” (Shahzad Qaiser, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan; Volume No. 56, Issue No. 1 (January - June, 2019)

With current state of affairs in Israel and Palestine, it’s starkly clear how the Balfour Declaration and British actions are at the core of consequential events. Edward Said said about the Balfour Declaration that is was “made by a European power … about a non-European territory … in a flat disregard of both the presence and wishes of the native majority resident in that territory”.

In the midst of colonialism, and the British using partition and social engineering as part of their tools to exert control and power over the ‘non white’ lands for future - the personal story of the end of Ottoman Empire really brings this period to life.

Whilst all this was taking place in the Arab world, the entire Ottoman Empire family were suddenly given orders to exit the land and live in exile under orders by the new President Mustafa Kemal.

Kemal wanted to revolutionise the once Ottoman Empire. The book states: “President Mustafa Kemal equated modernisation with westernisation, viewing Islam as incompatible with his vision of a modern secular state to be achieved through revolution dictated from above.“

After symbolically moving the capital of Turkey to Ankara, he ordered the exile.  “Ankara had decreed that all Ottoman Princes be stripped of their military ranks and discharged immediately from the army.”

As the family of Osman depart their beloved homeland, Ayse Osmanogku really captures the feeling that this was the end of an era and the closing of a significant chapter in Muslim history.