Police seize walking stick said to belong to Atatürk

ISTANBUL

Turkish law enforcement forces have seized a walking stick, which is said to have been gifted to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by then Iranian Shah Reza Pahlavi, soon after it was announced that it would be sold at an online auction.

On Aug. 13, an Istanbul-based auction firm announced that a walking stick with a length of 92 centimeters, which is said to have been gifted to Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, by Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran of the time, would be sold at an auction.

Upon the promotion of the auction, the Harbiye Military Museum asked Anıtkabir, Atatürk’s Mausoleum, for detailed information about the walking stick, but no record of the walking stick could be found as a result of the examination.

The incident was reported to the Culture and Tourism Ministry before a legal investigation was initiated and police teams seized the walking stick after a search in the house of Hüseyin Kocabaş, the founder of the auction firm.

Experts are evaluating whether or not the walking stick belongs to Atatürk.

There are depictions of leaders such as Persian legend Jamshid, Seljuk Emperor Keykâvus I, and Sultan of Delhi Muhammed el-Behmeni on the walking stick, besides figures of Atatürk and Pahlavi.