New book looks at important buildings

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The new book sheds light on the most architecturally important buildings.

The fact that the funeral of Turkey’s ambassador to Washington was sent to Turkey in a U.S. battleship marked the beginning of deeper political relations between Turkey and the United States, Professor Mensur Akgün said at the launch of a new book on the Turkish ambassadorial residence in the American capital on July 11.

Mehmet Münir Ertegün was appointed as the second envoy by Turkey in 1934, and two years later purchased the Everett mansion, built by the Ohio industrialist Edward Hamlin Everett.

The purchase made Turkey a holder of one of Washington’s important historical architectural legacies. When Ertegün died in 1944, his body was carried to Istanbul by the USS Missouri, the battleship upon which the official Japanese surrender had taken place several months earlier.

Important buildings

The new book, “The Turkish Ambassador’s Residence and the Cultural History of Washington D.C,” published by Istanbul Kültür Üniversity, sheds light on one of the American capital’s most architecturally important buildings.

“We believe preparing a book on a place where important decisions were taken will contribute to Turkish–American relations,” said Professor Akgün, from Istanbul Kültür University.

The Turkish government has carefully maintained this landmark, according to the book. “The Turkish government has not spared any detail when the restoration took place from 2001-2007,” said Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, one of the three authors of the book. In a chapter named “The Swinging Scions: How the ambassador’s sons jazzed Washinton and the nation,” pays tribute to the sons of Ambassador Ertegün, Nesuhi and Ahmet, who brought noted African–American musicians home for jazz sessions at the embassy.

At a time when Washington was a strictly segregated city, the Ertegün brothers were breaking the unwritten rules of the city. Speaking at the launch of the book, both Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, the head of İstanbul Kültür University’s board, and Professor Semahat Demir, thanked Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu for his support in the preparation of the book.