Villagers fight for 200-year-old clock

BURSA - Doğan News Agency

Governor Süleyman Tapsız poses with the historic clock in his office.

A historic 150 year-old clock has caused a dispute between villagers and the governor of the southwestern province of Burdur Süleyman Tapsız. The clock was spotted by Tapsız in a mosque in the Günalan village of Burdur, and he took for his office after having it restored. The villagers, who want the clock back, have filed a suit against the Burdur Governor’s Office.

During a visit to Günalan on Aug. 4, 2010, governor Tapsız saw the broken clock in the village mosque and took it for restoration. After the restoration process, which cost 10,000 Turkish Liras, he displayed the antique clock, which dates from the time of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamit II, in his own office.

The locals of Günalan village sent letters to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Abdullah Gül and Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin to get the clock back. In the end, Tapsız sent the clock to the Foundations Antalya Provincial Directorate.

Villager Ahmet Kandemir said they had made many attempts to get the clock back, but in the end they went to the court because they could not achieve any result.

The Foundations Antalya Provincial Director Mustafa Emek said the clock had been given temporarily to the Burdur Museum. It will then be put back in the Ulu Mosque, from where it was originally taken, after security cameras have been placed in the mosque.

“We don’t know how the clock got to Günalan’s mosque. But sending it to the village again is out of the question,” he said.