Senior member of Turkey's Ottoman family returns

[brother]

Senior member of Turkey's Ottoman family returns with Turkish passport

Tuesday, July 20, 2004


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(07-20) 08:24 PDT ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) --

Ertugrul Osman, the senior member of the Ottoman royal family that was deposed before Turkey was declared a republic in 1923, has returned to Turkey on a visit after the government agreed to grant him Turkish citizenship, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Osman, the 92-year-old grandson of Sultan Abdulhamid II, has visited Turkey, but his return to Istanbul on Monday was the first time that he used a Turkish passport, which was issued last week, the daily Hurriyet and other newspapers said.

Members of the Ottoman family were forced into exile in 1924 after the collapse of the empire and their citizenship was revoked. Members of the family have since been allowed to return and have also taken Turkish citizenship.

Newspapers said Turkey agreed to restore Osman's citizenship after a recent meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Osman in New York. Osman lived in New York for the past 40 years.

Osman was quoted as saying he never taken citizenship in another country and that he had traveled to Turkey on previous occasions using travel documents issued by the United States and Albania.

"I was born a Turk and will die a Turk," he said.

His wife, Zeynep, said they planned to spend several days in Istanbul, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, before traveling to Fethiye, a southern Mediterranean resort.

Osman and Turkish Foreign Ministry officials could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Osman's grandfather Abdulhamid came to the throne in 1876 and was ousted in 1909 amid strife in the empire. He was succeeded by his brothers, Mehmet V and later, Vahdeddin. He was the last Ottoman sultan and was ousted in October 1922 by Turkish nationalist forces.

[brother]

Found this a very interesting article, i did not know any of the ottoman royalty etc. were still alive.

[gabs]

yeah nice one bro.

ive sometimes wondered about them. i knew they were allowed to leave turkey, so must be still a few about.

[thebrix]

[brother]

So little we know re chaps.