Slanders On Muslims In History

Strategic Locations for the Occupation: Galata Tower and the Importance of Galata District

Throughout the British occupation, the British deep state was fixated on one notion: Turks have stayed in Europe for centuries, and caused troubles in Europe. Istanbul is not Turkish, it is Greek. Turks must be removed from there. As a matter of fact, the modern-day plans that the British deep state carries out for Turkey are not very different; the policies shaped 100 years ago are still pursued through various methods. Today, with the imposition of the deep states, the US and EU are the implementers of this plan. There are also efforts to make Russia a part of it.

Around 100 years ago, with the occupation of March 16, 1920, the plan reached its peak and the British entered Istanbul with 27,419 soldiers.²⁹⁹ Istanbul coming under Allied occupation delighted the deep circles in London. This delight would soon usher in a policy of violence to maintain the occupation of the city.

The Allied Powers decided that old Istanbul would be controlled by the French, while Beyoğlu and the Straits would be controlled by the British. Italy would maintain control over Kadıkoy and Üsküdar. However, the British soon claimed rights over those areas because they didn't find the Italians reliable enough. In any case, the British High Commissioner was in charge of the control and supervision of the city.

French forces in Istanbul had only one prison, in Kumkapı, whereas the British built a total of 5 prisons; underneath the Galata tower, in Arabian Han, Sansarian Han, Hotel Kroecker and Şahin Pasha Hotel. This area was the center where thousands of people were blacklisted, tortured and where the nationalist movement was spied on. Galata Tower had become the symbol of the British deep state, as it proved highly useful for observational purposes. It was also used both as an intelligence headquarters and a torture center.

During the occupation years, all spots in the Galata district were used like individual British posts. For instance, British forces used the street of the Galata Tower for their constant spying efforts targeting nationalists, while the Galata Tower proved very useful as a watchtower. With a British flag on it, the tower at the time had a shed on its layered roof. British had added this part for intelligence purposes as the British soldiers constantly watched the city. The top of the tower had a wide view that overlooked the Golden Horn and a large part of Istanbul and therefore helped the British spot any suspicious movements.

The building next to the Galata Tower, named the Galata House and built in 1904, was also used as a British post. This building witnessed horrific scenes of torture inflicted by the professional interrogators of the British deep state on the supporters of the Turkish War of Independence. The intelligence brought in by the cowards working for the British occupation forces were assessed here and people in key positions were interrogated and tortured here for information. Many patriots were martyred in the building and buried underneath the tower. Years later, many pits were found deep inside the Galata Tower in addition to human skulls and bones discovered in the canals of the tower. The space in the middle of the tower was used as a dungeon. During the occupation years, thousands of people were blacklisted and subsequently tortured there.

Galata Tower was very central to the operations of the British deep state. It was known both as the center of Mawlawiyah, and the hub of British intelligence and British violence and torture. The region was also used as a British court. In other words, Galata district was used as a base, a torture center, a prison, a court, not to mention as the meeting point of the British spies. Just like Pharaoh did with his watchtower, the British deep state watched the Turkish people from the Galata Tower. The first Mawlawi House of Istanbul in Galata was also used by the British for intelligence purposes.

The second important base that the British used to oppress the Istanbulians during the occupation was Hotel Kroecker (which is currently used as a teachers' local). The rooms in the basement were used as torture chambers and hundreds of nationalists defying the occupation were tortured in there. John Bennett, a British intelligence officer, used Hotel Kroecker as a headquarters, because the hotel enjoyed a very central location in Beyoğlu. With a whip in his hands, Bennett would interrogate people in torture chambers in the dead of the night. Bennett, also a Sufi and Mawlawi, never relinquished his ties with the Ottoman Empire and Islamic world, even after the occupation. As it happens, he opened the first Mawlawi/Sufi house in Britain and became a shaykh himself. Using this new character, he worked to inflict harm on the Turkish people and Muslims using Mawlawiyah as a disguise. As a result, many people failed to see the deception in his rhetoric and instead of Islam, mistakenly adopted Rumi's philosophy, which is actually against Islam. The British deep state's plans to spoil the Islamic world from within, after that point, would continue largely in a Rumi-oriented manner.

Let us note here that the major intelligence sources of the British during the occupation had been the Mawlawi houses. Traitors in the Ottoman Empire, who were fans of Rumi and the British culture, used to frequent the said Mawlawi Houses and gave the message that they could be used as loyal collaborators of the British.

The occupation forces that wanted to keep Istanbul under control didn't refrain from exerting pressure on civilians as well. In addition to the occupation fleet anchored in the Bosphorus, a British submarine was stationed in front of the Galata Tower. The weapons of the fleet were turned towards the city, ready to fire. The occupation troops would march around the city with their tanks and squadrons, as a tour de force. Tanks were placed around strategic points in Taksim Square. Ottoman officers had to salute the soldiers of the Allied forces regardless of their rank yet not expect to be saluted back. The Sultan was forced to enact a decree that endorsed the occupation, in a bid to prevent the rise of any nationalist consciousness in the people, and similar fatwas (authoritative legal opinions on issues pertaining to the Islamic law) were issued by the Shaykh al-Islam (the Grand Mufti) and some other religious scholars. Boxes of alcoholic drinks brought from Britain were filling the taverns of Istanbul, which was another attempt to debilitate people and impair their morality.³⁰⁰

British spies were everywhere in Istanbul. One spy, with the alias RV5, opened a tailor shop in 1921 and managed to be the tailor of the Unionists (usually called 'Young Turks' in the West) and those people close to Mustafa Kemal. He was even able to visit the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He would hand over all the intelligence he gathered to the British. Another spy, with the alias JQ6, was running a coffee shop in Istanbul, which was usually frequented by people close to Mustafa Kemal. His supporters would hold all their meetings in this shop and all the secret information they discussed would be immediately forwarded to the British. In the meantime, Istanbulians had to continue their daily lives under the siege of the British deep state.³⁰¹

Important Note about Mawlawiyah

Rumi is a 13^th-century mystic. He wrote Masnavi and although this book contains commendable statements regarding faith and Islam, it also contains serious contradictions with Islam and the Qur'an. Masnavi and the Mawlawiyah culture shaped around it, due to parts of Masnavi that are in contradiction with the Islamic faith, in time turned into a lifestyle promoted by certain circles seeking to inflict damage on Islam in a very sinister manner. In fact, this culture has been widely praised and promoted by atheists, anti-Islamic circles, homosexuals and Darwinists. Most particularly, certain people that wish to spread acts that are banned in the Qur'an, like homosexuality, or unbelieving systems, such as Darwinism, amongst Muslims, have always used Mawlawiyah and Rumi's philosophy to achieve their goals. Unsurprisingly, the British deep state has repeatedly used this dangerous culture as leverage against Muslims.

It should be borne in mind that the criticism here is not directed at Rumi, the author of Masnavi, considering how Masnavi could have been significantly altered since the 13th century. It is quite possible that the remarks in question were added to Masnavi only later, in an attempt to hurt the Islamic societies. Therefore, our criticism here is directed not at Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi, but the odd Rumi philosophy developed based on the contents of Masnavi.

Following chapters will be dealing with Rumi's philosophy to a greater extent.

Media Censorship during the British Occupation

Turkish Historian and author Atilla Oral explains the days of occupation as follows:

The enemy fleet that anchored in Bosphorus Strait had very important duties. They didn't stay in Istanbul for five years only to keep up the appearance. It was a part of a sinister and strategically devised plan of intimidation.³⁰²

The intimidation tactics were meant to suppress people and to break their spirit. The propaganda targeting the people was considered important, because the British deep state wanted to stop people's support for the nationalist movement.

As explained previously, the British deep state sought to impair the 'nationalist and patriotic values' of the peoples since the beginning. The main reason was because when a society strays away from such values, its downfall comes very quickly. The British deep state surmised that a movement unsupported by the public would no longer be 'national' and therefore concentrated on psychological anti-propaganda.

For the British deep state, one of the ways to do that was censorship of the media. Therefore, during the occupation, the Turkish press was heavily censored. The newspapers were first examined by the censor officers working for the British deep state before they were published, and any content or picture not found suitable was not allowed to be printed. If the British deep state didn't approve a certain photograph or writing, it would be removed. As a result, many newspapers during that time had to be printed with empty columns. It was a major crime to publish pictures not carrying the remark "Censored by Allied Authorities - The Censor".

The entire visual evidence of the crimes committed by the British deep state against humanity was thus almost completely obliterated. For a long time, it wasn't possible to locate any pictures proving that Istanbul was ever occupied, due to the British deep state's systematic move to collect all war photos. When these photos were later retrieved from the British archives, the Turkish people were taken aback. Atilla Oral explains how he got a hold of those pictures:

British archives have an abundant number of important, visual evidence regarding the Turkish War of Independence and the occupation years. It is said that the British state makes available its archive to the researchers after a while, but it is true only for written documents. It is different for visuals or audio recordings. I have collected documents and photographs for the past 20 years to be able to write this book. Almost all of the pictures I used came from British sources and auctions. Photographs kept by the occupation forces for decades are now sold by their great-grand children, effectively revealing many parts of history kept under shadows until now.³⁰³

The censorship effectively prevented the Turkish people from seeing the tyranny of the British deep state, their dirty secrets, which were revealed only after the war, and the injustice and torturous side of the occupation. Only in the 21^st century are we now able to see the extent of the violence and tyranny that took place. Nevertheless, and despite all the efforts to curb it, the nationalist campaign thrived in a way that completely shocked the British deep state. Spies and censors couldn't hinder the foresight of the Turkish people, and the plots of the British deep state failed one by one.

Supporters of the British Deep State During the Occupation

The previous pages dealt with how the British deep state implemented its plan to occupy Istanbul: how they managed to secure public support with their anti-Turkish propaganda, forged military alliances with other countries, manipulated governments and the clauses of the agreements to make them compatible with occupation, suppressed potential dissension and eventually launched the occupation on March 16, 1920. For the occupation to continue, there had to be not only military, economic or political power, but also local supporters as well. This section will be revealing some names and organizations that actively got involved in the occupation, wittingly or otherwise.

Said Molla, who was the editor of Yeni Istanbul, a pro-British daily published during occupation years, wrote a piece on November 9, 1918 entitled, 'Britain and Us', in a clear display of the approach of certain Ottoman authorities to the British:

... Since our people across Anatolia has developed extensive admiration and respect for the British, it is clear that any small British aid to Turkey will be extremely successful. … Ottomans, old Turks can find prosperity and welfare only with the earnest help of the noble British people.³⁰⁴

In the aftermath of the occupation, the British deep state built a huge network of spies, all harboring anti-Muslim feelings, in an attempt to curb the Anatolian resistance. While some of these spies were on the British payroll, others volunteered. Apparently, the power of the British mesmerized some.

Occupation officers used some dervish lodges for intelligence purposes and Galata's Mawlawi House was the most frequently used one. John Bennett, the head of Military Intelligence "B" Division, as previously mentioned, usually frequented this Mawlawi House. He writes about his days as follows:

I was instructed to find out what the dervishes were doing. … Any dervish might be a secret agent in disguise, or he might be a fanatical missionary on behalf of some politico-religious fraternity. Another important factor was the dervish fraternities, of which the most influential was believed to be the Mevlevi Brotherhood.³⁰⁵

The British deep state would pick and train intelligence operatives one by one to ensure their loyalty. For certain Istanbulians, flattery, little money and promises of a good future seemed to have been enough. Apparently, to them, petty gains were more important than the salvation of their country. As the British occupiers later detailed, there were some Istanbulians who consorted with the British deep state, pretending to be fond of the British. Nevertheless, none of these can change the fact that evil plots and the treachery of spies are always doomed to fail and God's destiny will always prevail. This is exactly what happened.

I will give them more time. My strategy is sure. (Qur'an, 7:183)

Society of the Friends of England - Cohorts of Britain in the Ottoman Administration

The Society of the Friends of England was an organization with people such as Damat Ferid Pasha and Said Molla, and fervently supported the idea of the British mandate. It was founded on May 20, 1919 with the main purpose of inciting unrest in Anatolia to stop the nationalist movement of independence, and received financial support of the British to this end. Every local protest started against the Turkish War of Independence was somehow linked to this society. Another method of this group was to use various publications to discredit the Ankara government in the eyes of the Istanbul public, while building public opinion in favor of the British deep state.

Said Molla, one of the co-founders, launched a full-on propaganda war in Istanbul with his daily Yeni Istanbul. Later it became clear that he was paid 300 Lira a month from the British Embassy.³⁰⁶ The founding declaration was penned by Dr. Abdullah Cevdet, who had peculiar ideas like improving the Turkish race with stallion men from Europe because Turks were supposedly primitive (the noble Turkish Nation is above such statements). The society managed to obtain 53 thousand members in the first three months after its inception. On May 23, 1919, Said Molla sent a telegram to all Mayors claiming that the only way of salvation was accepting the British mandate.³⁰⁷

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk mentioned the purpose of this society and their members in his famous Nutuk (The Great Speech):

One of the most important of these, the "Society of the Friends of England" is worthy of special mention. It does not follow from its name that its members were necessarily friends of England. In my opinion, the founders of this society were people who thought, before anything else, of their own safety and their own particular interests, and who tried to secure both by inducing Lloyd George's Government to afford them English protection. I wonder whether these misguided persons really imagined for a moment that the English Government had any idea at all of maintaining and preserving the Ottoman State in its integrity?

… Certain English adventurers, for instance a clergyman named Frew, also belonged to this Society. To judge from the energy the latter displayed, he was practically its chairman. The Society had a double face and a twofold character. On the one hand, it openly sought the protection of England by methods inspired by civilisation. On the other, it worked in secret and showed that its real aim was to incite the people to revolt by forming organisations in the interior, to paralyse the national conscience and encourage foreign countries to interfere. These were the treacherous designs underlying the work of the secret section of the Society. We shall see later how Said Molla played just as active a part, or even a still more important one, in this secret work as in the public enterprises of the Society. What I have just said about this Society will become much clearer to you when I enter into further particulars later on and lay before you certain documents which will astonish you.³⁰⁸

Clergyman Frew, whom Atatürk mentions in his Great Speech, was the chief of British intelligence in Istanbul. He held British communication codes, which Ali Rıza Bey from the Karakol Society (a secret society within the Istanbul government of the Ottoman Empire whose purpose was to assist the efforts of nationalist forces) stole and broke. This unraveled the planned uprising in Diyarbakir by the Bedirhan tribe under the auspices of Damat Ferid Pasha. Mustafa Kemal Pasha, after being informed directly about the details, which were all in Frew's file, was able to take necessary precautions.

The British propaganda in Istanbul wasn't only from the Society of the Friends of England. Refi Cevat Ulunay's daily Alemdar printed an editorial on the day Atatürk arrived at Samsun, entitled 'Who We Want'. It read: "Instead of getting another limb torn every day, let's surrender our skin to a doctor and let's save ourselves. Anglo-Saxons are able to breathe such strong life to wherever they are that they bring that community to a position where it will be a strong candidate for the future."

Grand Vizier Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, who succeeded Damat Ferid Pasha, as soon as he took up his position on November 11, gave an interview to The Daily Mail and said that 'their purpose was bringing back the old friendship with England and that it was essential the Allied Powers placed the Ottomans under the disposal of experienced people'.³⁰⁹

Novels Were Written about the Collaborators with the British During the Occupation of Istanbul

Sami Bey, in the famous novel of Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu titled Sodom ve Gomore (Sodom and Gomorrah), was a cosmopolitan character who had lost touch with his national values, forgotten his identity and who surmised that fraternizing with the foreigners would elevate his status. Sami Bey was convinced that the British were capable of doing anything and therefore opposed the nationalist movement in Anatolia. Grand Vizier Damat Ferid and journalist Ali Kemal were among the leading figures represented by Sami Bey in the novel.

Clearly, many people consorted with and ingratiated themselves with the British during the occupation. They caused immense difficulties for the people of Istanbul and Anatolia with their spying and the intelligence they provided. The Independence War started amid this difficult background but nevertheless resulted in an epic victory.

Said Nursi Rejected Fatwas against the Nationalist Forces

The British deep state, right after the occupation of Istanbul, appointed certain so-called clerics as their henchmen. These so-called clerics who collaborated with the British issued a fatwa in 1920 maintaining that the British occupation was rightful and that the Nationalist Forces were not compatible with Islam. Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi was the first to refuse to accept this fatwa:

A fatwa issued by a government and Şeyhül-İslam's Office in a country under enemy occupation and under the command and constraint of the British is defective and should not be heeded. Those operating against the enemy invasion are not rebels. The fatwa must be rescinded.³¹⁰

Said Nursi also gave important details about the British deep state:

The distinctive quality of British [British deep state] politics is causing discord and unrest, benefitting from conflicts, orchestrating all sorts of evil conceivable to further their goals as well as lying, destroying, and negativity. Since they use corruption and degeneration for their politics, they encourage degeneration everywhere.³¹¹

Said Nursi, with his powerful intellectual stance against Istanbul's occupation and relevant black propaganda, was the most important cleric of the time. Hutuvat-i Sitte, which was secretly printed in Arabic and Turkish and circulated underground, was an important publication that boosted the nationalist spirit against the British. It is not surprising that following this publication, the British ordered that Said Nursi be killed. However, by the grace and protection of God, despite their extensive searches in Istanbul, the deep state couldn't locate him.

Abdul Hamid II Orders that Bediuzzaman Said Nursi Be Sent to A Mental Asylum

Bediüzzaman Said Nursi was a brave servant of God, who noticed and drew attention to the evil plans of the British deep state since he was a young man. It didn't take long before the British deep state members saw this dedicated man's intelligence and talent, and tried to stop him. One of those attempts happened when Said Nursi came to Istanbul to visit Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

In 1907, Said Nursi requested an audience with Sultan Abdul Hamid II to tell him about his ideas on the foundation of a university in Van, which he called 'Madrasah al-Zahra', and where Islamic and physical sciences would be taught together. However, when he went to the Palace, he was arrested for the so-called 'crime' of wearing traditional clothing and a turban, and was sent to Üsküdar Toptaşı Mental Asylum. This unfair practice, carried out upon Abdul Hamid II's instructions, was a clear example of the fear and concern Said Nursi invoked in the British deep state with his unprecedented bravery.

Dr. Hamid Uras, one of the most esteemed doctors of Gaziantep, was at the asylum at the time Said Nursi was brought in. He recalled the incident with the following words:

It was during the Second Constitutional period and we were students in the Medical School. Nursi was also in Istanbul at the time. … He was very well known, his fame had spread everywhere. … they sent him to be examined by a government doctor, a Greek. The doctor interviewed Said and in the course of their conversation Said took a textbook on anatomy from the bookcase and read four or five pages, then asked the doctor to test him on it. The doctor did so and was left in amazement as the patient read the pages back to him from memory word for word. He apologized to Said and wrote a favorable report to be sent to the palace by means of the police chief.¹

Following the report stating that Said Nursi had no mental problems, he was discharged and sent back to the police headquarters. This prompted Abdul Hamid II to offer Said Nursi money to go back to his city, which Said Nursi immediately declined.

1. Şükran Vahide, Islam in Modern Turkey: An Intellectual Biography of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, State University of New York Press, New York, 2005, p. 39