Ertuğrul items to tour around coasts
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 29, 2009 00:00
BODRUM - Items recovered from the Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul, which sank off the coast of Oshima Island, Japan, in 1890, will be exhibited aboard a ship to sail around Turkey’s coast next year.
STS Bodrum, an educational vessel that belongs to the Bodrum and Caria Culture, Arts and Promotion Foundation, or BOSAV, will be sailing around the Turkish shores from April to November 2010, displaying items from the sunken vessel.
The voyage will start from the Black Sea city of Rize and will end in the East Mediterranean town of İskenderun. The ship will make stops in various cities and ports during its trip.
Once the Turkey leg is completed, the STS Bodrum will follow the same route as the Ertuğrul did between 1889 and 1890, and carry the recovered items to Japan.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, BOSAV President Tufan Turanlı said the main purpose of the project was to revive the memories of the Ertuğrul crew. "The items from the sunken frigate will visit the cities the crew lived in. The biggest success for me will be to help the people in those cities, the great-grandchildren of the deceased, remember and commemorate the Ertuğrul crew."
Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon said the project would help create a "cultural bridge" between Bodrum and Japan. "With the STS Bodrum exhibition, and projects to follow, we want to host our Japanese friends in the Bodrum region, to inform them about our historical and cultural values," he said.
Exhibition destinations yet to be confirmed
It is not yet certain which cities the Ertuğrul Frigate Exhibition will visit. While the cities from whence the crewmembers came will have priority, other cities will be visited too.
Turanlı, said the project titled "Ertuğrul Ğ A Turkish Frigate in Japan," which was launched in 2007 to bring the frigate to the surface, was ongoing.
One of the main goals of the project is to draw attention to the disaster and commemorate the martyrs and veterans, Turan said. "Turkish-Japanese friendship that started as a result of a disaster will be revived thanks to the frigate. Another goal is to shed light on Ottoman shipping. Studies to be carried out will be supported by documentary films."
The frigate Ertuğrul was sent by Sultan Abdülhamit II to the emperor of Japan on a goodwill visit. The frigate set sail on July 14, 1889 and, after sailing for little under a year, arrived in Japan in June 1890. On the return voyage, the Ottoman frigate floundered on the rocks of Kashinozaki off the coast of Ooshima Island in a severe typhoon just 16 days into its voyage. The tragedy resulted in the loss of 533 men, of whom 50 were officers. Only six officers and 63 sailors survived.
An Ertuğrul Monument now stands near a lighthouse on Ooshima, in the Wakayama Prefecture, built in memory of those pioneers of Turkish-Japanese friendship. The compassion demonstrated by the Japanese people in saving and returning the survivors to Istanbul has left a lasting memory of gratitude in the minds of the Turkish people. Thus, this tragic accident became a solemn symbol of friendship between the two nations.
The voyage will start from the Black Sea city of Rize and will end in the East Mediterranean town of İskenderun. The ship will make stops in various cities and ports during its trip.
Once the Turkey leg is completed, the STS Bodrum will follow the same route as the Ertuğrul did between 1889 and 1890, and carry the recovered items to Japan.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, BOSAV President Tufan Turanlı said the main purpose of the project was to revive the memories of the Ertuğrul crew. "The items from the sunken frigate will visit the cities the crew lived in. The biggest success for me will be to help the people in those cities, the great-grandchildren of the deceased, remember and commemorate the Ertuğrul crew."
Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon said the project would help create a "cultural bridge" between Bodrum and Japan. "With the STS Bodrum exhibition, and projects to follow, we want to host our Japanese friends in the Bodrum region, to inform them about our historical and cultural values," he said.
Exhibition destinations yet to be confirmed
It is not yet certain which cities the Ertuğrul Frigate Exhibition will visit. While the cities from whence the crewmembers came will have priority, other cities will be visited too.
Turanlı, said the project titled "Ertuğrul Ğ A Turkish Frigate in Japan," which was launched in 2007 to bring the frigate to the surface, was ongoing.
One of the main goals of the project is to draw attention to the disaster and commemorate the martyrs and veterans, Turan said. "Turkish-Japanese friendship that started as a result of a disaster will be revived thanks to the frigate. Another goal is to shed light on Ottoman shipping. Studies to be carried out will be supported by documentary films."
The frigate Ertuğrul was sent by Sultan Abdülhamit II to the emperor of Japan on a goodwill visit. The frigate set sail on July 14, 1889 and, after sailing for little under a year, arrived in Japan in June 1890. On the return voyage, the Ottoman frigate floundered on the rocks of Kashinozaki off the coast of Ooshima Island in a severe typhoon just 16 days into its voyage. The tragedy resulted in the loss of 533 men, of whom 50 were officers. Only six officers and 63 sailors survived.
An Ertuğrul Monument now stands near a lighthouse on Ooshima, in the Wakayama Prefecture, built in memory of those pioneers of Turkish-Japanese friendship. The compassion demonstrated by the Japanese people in saving and returning the survivors to Istanbul has left a lasting memory of gratitude in the minds of the Turkish people. Thus, this tragic accident became a solemn symbol of friendship between the two nations.