Notorious police building becomes five-star hotel

Musa Kesler - ISTANBUL

Sansaryan Han, which once served as a police station and had a notorious reputation, has been restored in accordance with its original historical texture and transformed into a five-star hotel.

According to records, Armenian merchant Mıgırdiç Sanasaryan bought this inn in 1889 and allocated its income to Armenian schools he established in Erzurum and some other cities.

The notoriety of the building came from the 1940s when it was a police station. Many famous names spent days of beatings and torture here because of their political opinions. The so-called "coffin cells" continued to be talked about for years.

A private company rented the abandoned Sansaryan Han and turned it into a luxury hotel. The hotel, with 62 rooms, including 12 suites, is scheduled to open in January 2024.

Both nationalists and Marxists or Leninists had a very difficult time in the "coffin cells" at Sansaryan. Ahmet Demir, the Istanbul Police chief of the 1940s, was the man who's widely spoken of for torturing and ill-treatment of people taken prisoner from both groups.

Some of the cruelties that happened at Sansaryan Han were recorded in memoirs.

Reha Oğuz Türkkan, a scientist and one of the nationalist leaders of the 40s taken prisoner, said, “They pushed me into a hole the size of a man. Two rings were put around my wrists, the chain was stretched, I was swept off my feet, a tremendous light shone on me and the door closed. I understood what a coffin cell was.”

Alparslan Türkeş, the founder of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said, "They took me to the torture room. One of the policemen suddenly attacked my finger. He pulled my nail mercilessly. The administration accuses us of being fascists, but they used all fascist methods themselves.”

“They opened a door like a henhouse door and pushed me in. It was pitch black. I felt around with my hand, it was 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. I stayed in this and even harsher conditions for 17 days,” said Aziz Nesin, a famous Turkish author.

Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, a famous political figure of that time, said, "For months we had seen no sun, no people other than the police, no food. Our eyes, bright as fire at a young age, saw nothing but cockroaches on the walls of our cell. The outside world was forbidden to us.”

"A coffin cells? It's like a chest small enough for a person to squat in. Neither your arm reaches out nor your head lifts. After a while, unbearable pain and numbness..." said Ruhi Su, a famous Turkish folk singer and saz virtuoso.