1961 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original autograph letter signed by Cevat Rifat Atilhan sent to an unnamed recipient. 30x23 cm. In Ottoman script. 15 lines. Full with letterheads. Dated 1961/8/26 with Arabic numbers. A good paper with only an 'extra strong' watermark. It's a feverish letter mentioning the ideas of the readers of Italian and the Turkish nation to an unnamed recipient. Very interesting content. Atilhan was a Turkish career officer and antisemitic writer, who was one of the initiators of the 1934 Thrace pogroms. He was born in 1892 in Vefa, Constantinople. His father Rifat Pasha was the Governor of Damascus. The first years of his childhood passed in Damascus. Then he came to Constantinople and went to Fatih Iptidaisi (primary school). After graduating from primary school, he started to Kuleli Military High School, preferring to military service. In his first days in the lieutenant years, he took part in the Albanian campaign. He was taken prisoner by the Bulgarians in the siege of Edirne. The bondage lasted two years. At the beginning of World War I, he was ordered by Cemal Pasha from Mersin. He came forward with his heroism in the Sinai and Palestinian fronts. Upon the conclusion of the First World War, Cemal Pasha from Mersin came to Konya. The establishment of the National Front had great benefits. He met with Sultan Mehmed VI as the first national representative. When Sultan Mehmed VI left his post, Damat Ferid Pasha had Atilhan arrested because of a conspiracy. He was imprisoned in the Bekir Aga Bölgesi. During the Turkish War of Independence, he was appointed as the commander of Zonguldak-Bartin and Havalisi Fronts. It prevented the spread of the French Army in this region. Upon the victory of the War of Independence, he left the army and went into writing. Of his anti-semitic book "Suzy Liberman, Jewish Spy", in 1935 the Turkish Army gave the order to buy 40000 copies and distributed them amongst the officers. In 1942, he was arrested by the government of the time on the grounds that the coup was being prepared. He was incarcerated for 11 months. In 1952, he was arrested again in Malatya as responsible for the assassination attempt of Ahmet Emin Yalman. He was detained for 11 months and 15 days. He wrote 74 works and thousands of articles. He was influenced by antisemitic politicians like Serif Yaçagaz and Ali Galip Yenen. Because of his antisemitic writings, he was described as the 'Hitler of the Middle East'. In August 1964 he was invited to congress of Islamic State in Somalia. He was elected as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Congress. This post was his last major mission. (Source: Wikipedia).
