David Urquhart was born in Cromraty, England in 1805. After the death of his father, he went to Switzerland with his mother. After his education at the French military school in Geneva, he learned weapon techniques in England and took lessons from Oxford. In 1827, he participated in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his successes, he was appointed as an ambassador to Istanbul in 1831.
In 1833, he traveled to the Eastern countries for the commercial interests of England. On this trip, he published his book "Turkey and it's Resources", which emphasized the potential of the Ottoman Empire. During his travels, he got to know the Turks more closely and admired their culture. He wrote "Islam as a Political System" in the same year.
In 1834, Urquhart came to Istanbul again and supported the Ottoman administration in the Egyptian issue. Thereupon, he was deported by the Bâbıâli under the pressure of England. When he returned to London, he published another book, "England, France, Russia and Turkey" in 1835. In his book, he warned the British state that Russia would have a great influence in the Ottoman Empire in the coming years.
In 1837, he published his two-volume work "The Spirit of the East". In this work, he endeavored to correct the misconceptions about the East and the Turks. This work, which was different from similar works of the period, talked about honesty, tolerance, justice, respect for women and hospitality among the Ottoman Turks. From this perspective, the work was a great success in Europe.
As a member of parliament between 1847 and 1852, he defended Turkish interests and published his work "Pillars of Hercules" in 1850. A large part of the work was devoted to Turkish baths. He stated that Europeans were not clean and that they did not attach importance to cleanliness like the Turks. The book started a campaign called "Turkish Bath Movement" in England.
He argued that the Edict of Reform 1856 imposed after the Crimean War was an unjust oppression and would make things worse rather than better. In 1856, he founded a society called the "Foreign Affairs Committee" to defend the rights of the countries that Europe had disorganized. The "Free Press", the organ of the society, portrayed the Turks as Europeans. It also published his letters to Sultan Abdülaziz, Fuad Pasha and other Ottoman leaders about the European ambitions on the Ottoman Empire.
Urquhart, who died in Naples in 1877, was called "the most famous Turkish friend of his time".
REFERENCE
Hüseyin Çelik, “Urquhart David”, Türk Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, c. 42, İstanbul, 2012. ss. 180-181.
Comments