Midnight at the Pera Palace_The Birth of Modern Istanbul

by Charles King

  Sept. 1922 Retreat of Hellenic army and flight of civilians from Smyrna

  Nov. 1922 Sultanate abolished; flight of Mehmed VI

  1922–1924 Caliphate (but not sultanate) of Abdülmecid

  Oct. 1922 Mudanya agreement paves way for transition to Turkish nationalist control

  July 1923 Treaty of Lausanne

  Oct. 1923 Last Allied troops leave Istanbul; Ankara named capital of Turkey; declaration of Turkey as a republic (Oct. 29), with Mustafa Kemal as president

  1924 Caliphate abolished

  1925 Fez banned; calendar reform; “Sheikh Said rebellion” among Kurds in eastern Anatolia; law on the maintenance of public order allows shutting down of newspapers and banning of opposition groups.

  1926 Adoption of new civil code and abolition of religious law; ban on public consumption of alcohol lifted

  Oct. 1927 Mustafa Kemal’s lengthy “Nutuk” (Speech) sets out narrative of the war of independence and the victory of Turkish nationalists

  1928 Disestablishment of Islam as state religion; adoption of Latin alphabet for Turkish; unveiling of Republic Monument in Taksim Square

  1929 Leon Trotsky arrives in Istanbul

  1930 Women allowed to vote in municipal elections

  1931 Thomas Whittemore begins restoration of Hagia Sophia

  1932 Keriman Halis wins Miss Universe competition

  1933 Leon Trotsky departs Istanbul

  1934 Law requires Turkish citizens to adopt family names; women gain full suffrage; Mustafa Kemal becomes “Atatürk”; pogrom against Jews in eastern Thrace

  1937–1938 Military campaign against Kurds in eastern Anatolia

  Nov. 10, 1938 Death of Atatürk; smet Inönü elevated to presidency

  Sept. 1, 1939 Beginning of Second World War

  Mar. 11, 1941 Suitcase bomb explodes at Pera Palace

  June 22, 1941 German invasion of Soviet Union

  Feb. 1942 Sinking of the Struma

  Nov. 1942 Wealth tax aimed at Istanbul’s ethnic minorities

  June 6, 1944 Allied landings in Normandy

  Aug. 1944 Turkey breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany

  Feb. 1945 Turkey declares war on Germany, becoming an Allied power

  May 8, 1945 End of Second World War in Europe

  1950 First free and direct parliamentary elections in Turkey

  Sept. 6–7, 1955 “September events”: mobs attack Greek and other minority homes and businesses in Istanbul

  INDEX

  Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.

  Turkish historical figures who are generally known by their first names rather than by their surnames are alphabetized accordingly.

  Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

  Abdülaziz, Sultan, 14

  Abdülhamid II, Sultan, 14, 32–34, 53, 59, 136, 147, 155, 207, 296, 305

  Abdullah Efendi restaurant, 314

  Abdullah Frères photographic studio, 59

  Abdülhak Adnan (politician and husband of Halide Edip), 210–15, 255

  Abdülmecid, caliph, 87, 180–81

  Abdülmecid I, Sultan, 270–71, 279

  Abwehr (German military intelligence), 310–13

  Adil, Fikret, 151

  Aegean coast, 36, 71, 75, 77, 194

  Aegean Sea, 15, 40, 70, 72–73, 78, 121, 163

  African-Americans, 138–41

  Agabekov, Georgy, 246–47

  Agamemnon, 40, 41

  Ahmed Tevfik Pasha, 318

  Albania, Albanians, 34, 61, 71, 79, 190, 191, 192, 286, 289, 313

  alcohol, 142–43, 181, 187

  Alexander, king of Greece, 71, 77–78

  Ali Ayetullah, 208

  Allenby, Edmund, 42, 58

  Allies, 184

  armistice with Ottomans by, see Mudros agreement

  battleships of, 37, 72

  Bulgarian armistice with, 39–40

  concern for Jews by, 357–59

  fleet of, 37, 40–43

  Istanbul occupied by, 40–45, 49–66, 70, 72–76, 78–86, 96, 100–102, 106, 114–15, 118–20, 124, 127, 130–31, 135–36, 140, 151–52, 155, 157, 203–4, 206, 210–11, 213, 222, 223, 225, 245, 259, 271, 299

  Istanbul’s sex trade and, 148–51

  Normandy invaded by, 313, 362

  refugees cared for by, 91–92

  Russian Revolution and, 94

  territorial goals of, 37, 82

  Treaty of Lausanne and, 114–15

  Turkish demands on, 74

  in World War I, 35–40, 64, 71

  in World War II, 291, 295, 297, 306–8, 310–11, 314, 326, 338, 348, 352, 356, 369

  American College for Girls, 51, 207–8, 309

  American Consulate, 308, 309, 318, 331, 373

  American Embassy, 328

  American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Joint), 325, 337, 360–61

  Anatolia, 18, 31, 52, 55, 72, 74, 76, 78, 83–84, 91, 92, 118, 122, 165, 184, 192, 222, 225, 226, 327, 370

  central, 73

  coast of, 238

  folk songs of, 161, 168, 170, 171

  in Human Landscapes, 219–20

  Muslim immigrants from, 49, 373

  southeastern, 194, 210

  southern, 52

  western, 73, 91

  withdrawal of Italian troops from, 79

  Anatolia, eastern, 36, 37, 53, 57, 126, 129, 194, 211, 334, 375

  anti-Kemalist uprisings in, 186

  Armenian deportation from, 37–39

  Armenian homeland proposed for, 59, 210

  division of, 75

  Ottoman positions in, 35

  Soviet Union and, 290

  Anatolian News Agency, 212, 255

  Ankara, 77–79, 116, 121, 147, 184, 186, 212, 225, 276, 279, 293, 312, 313, 322, 323, 339, 347, 354, 363, 371

  capital moved to, 4, 5, 75, 194

  as center of government, 84–85, 115, 193, 194–95, 290, 314, 327–29

  foreign embassies in, 295

  Jewish community organizations in, 337

  Kemal establishes headquarters in, 73, 255

  population of, 193

  Ansari, Abu Ayyub al-, 135

  antisemitism, 332, 346, 365

  and Jewish refugees, 330

  Arabian Peninsula, 31, 51, 193

  Arabic, 115

  Arabic language, 9, 188–89, 227

  Arabs, 31, 34, 36, 76, 145, 194, 350

  in Palestine, 330, 332

  revolt against Ottomans by, 37

  Ardıç, Mahmut, 304–5

  Armenia, 75

  refugees from, 91

  Armenian Apostolic Church, 10, 165, 187, 194

  in Istanbul population, 58–59

  Armenian Catholic Church, 351

  Armenian genocide, 41, 42–43, 60, 129, 165–66, 194, 306

  Armenian language, 118, 167

  Armenian nationalism, 59–60

  Armenians, 5, 8, 13, 17, 26, 27, 31–33, 44, 49–51, 61–63, 69, 72, 124, 142, 163–65, 171, 184, 191, 194, 207, 245, 246, 298, 374, 375, 377

  Allied occupation and, 75

  Allied preference for, 64–65

  attacks on, 73

  deportation from Anatolia of, 37–39

  economic marginalization of, 121–31, 333–34, 365

  genocide of, 39, 41, 42–43, 60, 129, 165–66, 194, 306

  Hrant Kenkulian as, 162

  as prostitutes, 139

  religions of, 63

  in Smyrna, 80

  Unionists assassinated by, 42–43

  Armstrong, Therese, 303

  Atamansky Regiment, Cossack, 105

  Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal, 8, 52–57, 72–75, 82, 85, 114, 129, 147, 151, 170, 173, 180, 183, 204, 210, 212, 223–25, 262–63, 278, 279, 306, 318, 349, 353, 371, 372, 375

  adopted daughters of, 182, 186, 205–6

  anti-occupation resistance by, 116, 255

  appearanc
e and personality of, 182–83

  as commander in chief of Turkish forces, 79, 82, 183

  death of, 184, 215, 292–93, 293

  dictatorial aspects of, 214, 223

  elevation of Turks to new nationality by, 190–91

  enemies list of, 184–85

  on Hagia Sophia, 276

  Istanbul and, 189–90, 197

  modernization and, 181, 277, 370

  on neutrality, 289

  “Nutuk” speech and official history by, 214–15, 219

  personality cult of, 182, 206, 291–92

  portraits of, 81, 115, 196

  as president, 75, 115, 213, 304

  Trotsky and, 235

  as uncontested nationalist leader, 79, 255

  women’s rights under, 202

  Atatürk Cultural Center, 196

  Athens, 70, 77–78, 119, 121, 124, 127, 263, 277, 278, 374

  Roza Eskenazi in, 163–64

  Atlantic Monthly, 110

  Atlantic Records, 174

  Auerbach, Erich, 296

  Auschwitz-Birkenau, 357, 359

  Austria, 9, 24, 45, 70, 165, 243, 246, 290, 314

  Anschluss and, 297

  refugees from, 295–96

  Austria-Hungary, 24, 32, 34–35, 114

  end of empire in, 45

  Averoff, 41

  Axis Powers, 291, 295, 298, 306–7, 308, 314, 320, 325–26, 331, 336–38, 345, 352, 355, 356

  Ayasofya, see Hagia Sophia

  Azerbaijan, Azerbaijanis, 99, 101, 183, 225, 245

  Aziz Bey (diplomat), 317

  Bacanos, Yorgos, 170

  Baha (public prosecutor), 158–59

  Baker, Josephine, 159–60

  Balakian, Grigoris, 41

  Balat (neighborhood), 61, 62

  Balian family, 59

  Balkans, 4, 18, 31, 41, 49, 52, 71, 91, 192, 274, 291, 298, 307

  1870s territorial changes in, 33

  Jewish refugees from, 325, 337, 345

  Wehrmacht in, 303

  in World War I, 35, 39

  Balkan Wars, 8, 34, 162

  Bandırma, 57

  Barlas, Chaim, 329–32, 334–38, 341, 345, 348–49, 351–53, 355, 357–60, 364–65

  Bartók, Béla, 168

  Bazna, Elyesa, 313

  beauty pageants, 254, 256–63, 261, 267

  Bedreddin, Sheikh, 229–30

  Beirut, 129, 351, 369

  Belgium, 22, 24, 108, 192, 257, 258, 261–63, 267, 376

  government-in-exile of, 300

  Bell, Marie, 159

  Benedict XI, Pope, 353

  Ben-Gurion, David, 330

  Bergson, Peter, 326

  Berlin, 41, 42, 243, 263, 296, 306, 313, 363

  Beylerbeyi (neighborhood), 8, 59

  Bibesco, Marthe, 155

  Black Sea, 15, 17, 24, 35, 39, 49, 57, 93, 98, 107, 226, 229–30, 289, 291, 320, 322–23, 332, 344, 357, 359, 360, 370, 375, 378

  Bliss, Robert and Mildred Woods, 275

  Bliumkin, Yakov, 249

  Blythe, Betty, 159

  Bodosakis-Athanasiades, Prodromos, 69–70, 72, 124–25, 127–29, 131, 255, 377

  Bolshevik Revolution, 98, 106, 110, 183, 235, 237, 248, 276

  Bolsheviks, 43, 93, 96–99, 101–2, 104, 106, 109–10, 116, 223, 225, 226, 239, 245, 248–49, 252, 295, 296, 352

  Turkish, 225

  “Boo Boo Baby I’m a Spy,” 311–12

  Börklüce (leader of uprising), 229

  Bosnia-Herzegovina, 34, 192

  Bosphorus, 8, 15–16, 36, 51, 53, 60, 83, 86, 129, 155, 161, 189, 193, 206, 215, 234, 245, 259, 263, 274, 291, 295, 296, 297, 300, 320, 322, 360, 363, 376

  Allied force in, 40–42

  boatmen on, 17

  metro line underneath, 18

  waves and currents on, 18

  Boston, Mass., 272, 276

  Boutnikoff’s Symphony Orchestra, 137

  Boyer, Charles, 159

  Brand, Joel, 357–58

  Breslau, 35

  Brettschneider, Teodor, 321, 323

  Bridges, Tom, 42, 93

  Bristol, Mark, 51, 76, 96, 223

  Britain, British, 24, 64, 117, 119, 170, 207, 209, 214, 237, 243, 289, 318

  immigration quotas in, 330

  imperialist tendencies of, 76

  intelligence services of, 245–46, 307–8, 312–13, 314

  mandate over former Ottoman territories by, 75, 290

  Mehmed VI protected by, 85–86

  military advisors to Ottomans from, 32, 55

  in occupation of Istanbul, 4, 39–42, 50–52, 54–56, 74–76, 78–86, 91–92, 96–97, 99–100, 115–16, 118, 136, 148, 212, 244, 349

  in Ottoman demise, 32, 35, 77

  Palestine under Mandate of, 320–24, 329–32, 338–41

  Turkey’s relations with, 294

  in World War I, 35–40, 71, 94

  British Consulate, 300, 318, 331, 373

  British Embassy, 156, 322, 339

  Brod, Simon, 321, 360

  Brodsky, Joseph, 373

  brothels, 147–52

  disguised as harems, 201

  legal, 3, 138, 147, 148, 151

  see also prostitutes

  Brussels, 23, 117

  Bucharest, 339, 346

  Budapest, 14, 339, 356–59

  Bülbül, 361–63

  Bulgaria, Bulgarians, 24, 53, 61, 79, 106, 117, 136, 162, 190, 192, 207, 230, 307, 318, 322, 354, 356, 362

  armistice with Allies by, 39–40, 114

  British diplomats expelled from, 298, 302

  German troops in, 303

  Germany and, 298–99

  independence of, 34

  Jewish refugees from, 326, 335, 339, 355

  in World War I, 35, 39–40

  Burgess, Guy, 249

  Bursa, 205, 219

  Busbecq, Ogier Ghiselin de, 13

  Büyükada (Prinkipo), 238–44, 246, 249, 255, 359

  Byzantine Empire, 238

  architectural remainders of, 4, 373

  conquest of, 76

  Greek desire to restore, 71

  history and image of, 273–75

  Italian trade with, 49

  Jews and, 60

  Byzantine Institute, 276, 277–80, 285

  Byzantium, 13, 270

  art of, 274–75, 280–85

  churches of, 267–68, 271, 376

  earthquakes in, 18

  economy of, 15–16

  emperors of, 14

  founding of, 15

  Greek-speaking, 119

  legal codes of, 15

  old quarter of, 16, 20

  see also Istanbul

  Café Lebon, 64, 147

  caiques, 16–17

  Cairo, 263, 358

  calendar, in Istanbul, 179–80

  caliph, caliphate:

  Abdülmecid as, 87, 180–81

  abolished, 180–81, 186, 277

  Mehmed V as, 35

  Mehmed VI as, 43, 85–86

  separated from sultanate, 87, 180

  sultan as, 5, 10, 37, 58

  Cambridge spy ring, 249

  Çankaya Avenue, 238–39, 244

  capitalism, 238, 241

  Capitulations system, 63–66

  Çapulcular (Thugs) Street, 26, 129

  Carp, Betty, 309–10, 334

  Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, 349, 351–53, 359–60

  Caucasus, 32, 35, 37, 39, 84, 98, 102, 103, 105, 107, 190, 226, 227, 246

  Celile Hanım (mother of Nâzım Hikmet), 221

  Cemal Pasha, 34, 37, 42–43, 56

  census, Turkish national, 192–93

  Central Asia, 43, 235, 257

  nomads in, 189

  origin of Ottomans in, 16

  Central Powers, in World War I, 35–40

  Cevad (owner of Opera Cinema), 158–59

  Chalcedon, 15

  Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Istanbul, 124

  Chamberlain, Neville, 332

  Charleston (dance), banning of, 1
42

  Chebyshev, Nikolai, 97

  Cheka (Bolshevik secret police), 248

  China, 248–49

  Christians, Christianity, 39, 61, 229, 270, 278

  Byzantine, 274

  canon law in, 181

  deportation from Anatolia of, 37

  economic marginalization of, 121–31, 152

  in Istanbul, 51, 121

  Istanbul as epicenter of, 10

  nationalists feared by, 118–19

  as refugees in Istanbul, 92

  response to Allied occupation by, 40–41, 64–65

  taxes on, 58

  women, 203

  see also Greeks (ethnic), Armenians

  Christie, Agatha, 14, 25, 118, 235, 373

  Church of the Holy Savior in Chora (Kariye mosque), 267

  Churchill, Winston, 78, 83, 241, 310, 317

  Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, 267

  Cicero (double agent), 313

  Çıraan Palace, 50, 376

  Circassians, 43, 191

  Columbia Gramophone, 170

  Committee for the Education of Russian Youth in Exile, 106–10

  Committee of Union and Progress, see Unionists

  communism, 225, 227, 230, 241, 245, 248, 252, 352

  Communist Party, Soviet, 224

  Communist Party, Turkish, 225–26

  Communist University of the Workers of the East, 226–27

  Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et des Grands-Express Européens, 23–26, 69, 377

  Constana, 102, 320, 361

  Constantine, king of Greece, 71, 77–78, 84

  Constantine XI Palaeologus, emperor of Byzantium, 78

  Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome, 13, 15

  Constantinople, 10, 13, 25, 42, 268

  see also Istanbul

  Cossacks, 93–95, 98, 100, 102, 105, 107, 138, 245

  Cox, Oscar S., 327

  Crete, 34, 70, 303

  Crimea, 94–95, 103, 105, 106, 107, 109, 160, 190

  Crimean War, 371

  Cumhuriyet (The Republic), 8, 256–57, 260, 262, 267, 279, 296, 303

  Curtiss, Joseph, 309

  cymbals, Zildjian, 172–73

  Cyprus, 75, 372

  Czechoslovakia, 108, 356

  Czechs, in Istanbul, 308

  Dadiani, Koki, 100–101

  Daily Mail, 82

  Damascus, 39, 224, 351

  Danube River, 191

  Dardanelles Straits, 15, 36–37, 39, 74–76, 82, 290–91

  Democratic Party, Turkish, 370–71

  Denikin, Anton, 93–94, 97–98, 117, 140

  Deutscher, Isaac, 244

  Deutsche Schule, 297

  Divanyolu, 20

  divorce, 202, 203

  Diyarbakır, 210

  Doctors’ Plot, 251–52

  Dolmabahçe Palace, 41, 50, 59, 86, 189, 213, 292, 376

  Don, 95

  Donovan, William “Wild Bill,” 310

  Don River, 93, 107

  Dos Passos, John, 14, 196, 244–45