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THE DIARY OF A TURK
THE DIARY OF A
TURK
BY
HALIL HALID, M.A., M.R.A.S.
CONTAINING EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1903
TO THE MEMORY OF
E. F. W. GIBB
ORIENTAL SCHOLAR, AND THE AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF OTTOMAN POETRY"
PREFACE
Although no Western Power has ever playeda greater part in the problems of the OttomanEmpire than Great Britain, yet in no othercountry in Western Europe is Turkey moregrossly misunderstood. I have been manytimes asked by my English acquaintances towrite a book on Turkey from a Turkish pointof view, and two ways of writing were suggestedto me: the one was to compile a detailed work,the other to write a small and light book. Totake the former advice was not possible tome, as I found myself incapable of producing agreat and technical work. Besides, I thoughtthat after all a small and lightly written volumewould have a larger circle of readers, and by itshelp I could to some extent correct some ofthe mistaken ideas prevailing in England aboutTurkey. Therefore I began to write this littlevolume in the form of a book of travel, and Inow bring it out under the title of The Diaryof a Turk. By this means I have been able totalk a little on many matters connected withTurkey. Let the critic find other points in thisbook on which to express his opinion, but donot let him charge me with ignorance of thefact that the somewhat unexciting experiencesof an unknown man may be only of slightinterest to the public.
In the chapter on women's affairs I havequoted a few paragraphs from two articles whichI contributed some time ago to two Londonweeklies, the Queen and the Lady, I rendermy thanks to the Editors of these papers forkindly permitting me to reproduce them here.
H. H.
CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAG. | |
| I. | MY HOME IN ASIA MINOR | 1 |
| II. | AT SCHOOL AND IN THE HAREM | 23 |
| III. | THE HAREM AND WOMEN IN THE EAST | 46 |
| IV. | I GO TO CONSTANTINOPLE AND PURSUE MYSTUDIES | 75 |
| V. | A NEW PROFESSION AND THE QUESTION OFCONSCRIPTION | 97 |
| VI. | TURKEY'S INTERNAL DANGERS | 118 |
| VII. | A NEW COSTUME AND A NEW CAREER | 134 |