
By Manal Abdel Fattah
“The Ottoman sultans showed close interest and love for Egypt, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914,” said Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen, Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo.
This came during an event held by the Turkish Cultural Center in Cairo, the Yunus Emre Institute, in cooperation with the American University, yesterday evening, entitled “Egypt’s Albums in the Photo Collection of Sultan Abdul Hamid II,” on the occasion of the centenary of the Turkish Republic.
The ambassador added: “Sultan Abdul Hamid II, who was a lover of the art of photography and interested in Egypt and Egyptian civilization throughout the ages, collected one of the largest and most important collections in the history of global photography.”
Ambassador Mutlu Shen pointed out that this collection not only provides an objective idea about Egypt’s civilization, nature, cities, life, architecture, and people, but also sheds light on the historical and cultural ties between Turkey and Egypt and carries these ties to the present day.
He added: “In light of our recently developed relations with Egypt, we will continue our activities aimed at remembering and defining the monuments of our shared history and culture.”
The event was attended by the Turkish Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şan, the Director of the Yunus Emre Institute in Cairo, Emin Boyraz, and a number of representatives of Arab and foreign diplomatic missions, in addition to a group of Egyptian academics.
As part of the event, an exhibition was opened containing selected photos from Egypt’s albums preserved in Yildiz Palace in Turkey.
The exhibition, held on the campus of the American University in Tahrir, will receive the public between 10 am and 6 pm until next January 2.