Sirman Celâyir. Historical Chronology of Celâyirs

Dates	Family	Turkey	World
1290-1326		Osman I, the first sultan forms the Ottoman Empire	Edward I rules in England: 1272-1307
1451-1481		Fatih Sultan Mehmed II conquers Constantinople End of Eastern Roman Empire: 5/29/1453
1520-1566		Suleiman I, the Magnificent. Ottomans at their peak	Elizabeth I (1558-1603) moderates Church of England
1571		Ottoman naval defeat at Lepanto by the Holy League heralds the decline of the Ottoman power
1683		Ottomans fail to take Vienna. The empire reaches from Persian Gulf to western Algeria, to Austria
1789-1807		Sultan Selim III attempts reforms: "Nizamı Jedid" (Arabic for "new order")	America is 13 - 31 years old
1830		After 370 years, Greece gains its independence from the Ottomans, guaranteed by England, France, and Russia
1839-1876	Mother's great uncle on her mother's side, Hasan Şevket, took part in the Crimean War, got a medal	"Tanzimat" reforms under sultans Abd al-Mejid (1839-61) and Abd al-Aziz (1861-76): centraliza- tion of finance, administration, and the army	1854-56: Crimean War. Russian claim to protect Christians in Turkey's Balkan lands is checked by Britain and France
1870-1871		1877-78: Russo-Turkish War liberates Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia from the Ottoman Empire	Franco-Prussian War leaves Germany the most powerful nation on the Continent
	NOTE ==>	The years after 1877 mark the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire, now known as the "Sick Man of Europe." Together with incompetence at home, the empire was losing territories: the British took Egypt, France Algeria, Italy in Libya. Austria wanted the Balkans, Russia Turkish homeland. So whatever might have sparked WWI, the war was about how to dispose of the Sick Man's lands without upsetting the European balance of power. This is why various alliances formed beginning in 1879, dividing Europe into two camps.
3/12/1881	Mother's father Ahmet Haşim Yanbolu born in Bulgaria.	Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk or "Father of Turks.") born.	1879: Germany's Otto von Bismarck forms defensive accord with Austria- Hungary against Russia
1886	Mother's mother Safiye born in Arhavi
May 1892	Father's parents, Mehmet Zeki Çolağişi and Femsi Çeleşi, marry in Arhavi		1894: Franco-Russian alliance forms
1906	Mother's parents, Dr. Haşim Yanbolu (25) from Latakia Syria and Safiye Çolağişi (20) from Arhavi marry in Istanbul		1904: Anglo-French Entente forms. Russo- Japanese War. Threat of unrest, revolution in Tsarist Russia
1906-1911	Grandfather Dr. Haşim, military doctor, is assigned to the Yemen front: 4 years, 8 months		1907: Triple Entente forms between France, Britain, and Russia
1909-1913		Young Turks era. Sultan Abdul Hamid is dethroned, rapid modernization begins.	World War I is imminent in Europe, Arab uprising against the Ottomans.
7/11/1913	Father, Cavit, born in Arhavi, the youngest of 5 children. His father is away in the army.	1913: Young Turk leader Enver Pasha becomes dictator and sides with Germany and Austria- Hungary on 8/2/1914.
1914	NOTE ==>	One wonders why in 1909 the Young Turks did not withdraw all Turkish forces from distant lands, which Turkey did not need, could not hold, and use them to reinforce the homeland, while trying to remain neutral. There were enough "free" lands for everyone to fight over for years to come. With some foresight and luck, Turkey could have been in a strong position--NOT defeated--in 1918. . .	World War I begins.
1913-1918	Grandfather Dr. Haşim, a colonel, is stationed in Dersim, Iraq, facing Arab revolt on the Syrian and Iraqi fronts under Lawrence of Arabia. In 1923, he received the İstiklâl (Independence) medal, the highest in Turkey.
1914-1915	Gallipoli. Dr. Bahri, Father's oldest brother (by 19 years) and a medical doctor, is on the front line when the British and Anzac forces attack. In 1923, Uncle Bahri received the İstiklâl medal.		The British and Anzac defeat in Gallipoli leads to the resignation of the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in 1915.
3/1/1918	Mother, Zekiye, an only child, is born in Aleppo, Syria at 4:30 a.m., delivered by her father. Turkish forces withdraw from Syria and Iraq soon after her birth.	1917: Russian bombardment of Arhavi; Arhavi evacuated, escape to Ordu. At age 5 (1918), Father meets his father for the first time. Return to Batumi (USSR), then Arhavi in 1918.
1919		Nationalist movement headed by Mustafa Kemal is formed to resist Allied occupation.	1918-22: Mehmet VI, the last Sultan: the sultanate ends after 632 years.
1920-1921		Syria becomes French territory until 1944; Iraq is independent in 1921.
1918-1923	Mother, to age 5. Move from Aleppo to Adana, then to Fatih (Istanbul). Father attends grade school in Arhavi. At age 10, he meets his brother Bahri for the first time.
8/30/1923		Turkish Liberation War ends, Allied forces defeated. This day is celebrated as "Zafer Bayramı" (Victory Day) in Turkey.	Treaty of Lausanne (1923) sets Turkish boundaries.
1923-1924	Father continues grade school in Kars (eastern Anatolia), staying with Brother Bahri.
10/29/1923		Turkey is a republic, with Mustafa Kemal, now Atatürk, as its first President. This day is celebrated as "Cumhuriyet Bayramı" (Republic Day).	Greece becomes a republic.
1924-1925	Father's (11) mother and sister Leman die, volatile years begin.
1925-1938	Mother (7-19), Giresun Years on the Black Sea. Life friends Harbiye and Asuman. 1925-7: family adopts 3 orphan refugees: Vacit and girls Hatçe and Nazire: "family" to us.	1926-28. Father (13-15) is with sister Ayşe, in school in Istanbul. 1927: his father dies. 1928-29: at 15 he is in school in Istanbul, Arhavi, then Sivas.
1928-1938	Mother (10) has adenitis. Recuperates in the mountain resort Kulakkaya in summers.	1928: Father (15) starts violin lessons for 3 months, continues on his own.
1930	Father (17) and Mother (12), 2nd cousins, meet in Giresun for the first time in the summer of 1930.	5/2/1931, Cavit writes his first card to Zekiye's mother, thoughts of future courtship begin. . .
1930-1934	Mother (12) attends American Girls' School in Merzifon: top student. Life friends Fevziye, Melâhat, Mahmure, Belkıs.	1930-32:Father is with brother Bahri in Sivas, attending 11th grade. He escapes to Erzurum to attend the lyceum.	Small World: in 1980s, Mother's friend Melâhat from Merzifon also lived in USA. Her husband William Cruse shot and killed 6 people in Palm City, FL. Melâhat left for Turkey and died in Istanbul.
1934	1934: Father (21) finishes lyceum. His teacher Arif Öğet obtains for him a 6- year scholarship for the medical school in Istanbul, for 4 years of service.	Turkey adopts last names: Mother (16) becomes Zekiye Sirman, Father (21) Cavit Celayir.
1935-1938	Mother (17) attends Üsküdar American Lyceum in Istanbul: top student. Life friends Zwart and Bercuhi, two Armenian girls. 1937-40: Mother's father moves to Trabzon, Afyon, then Edirne.	10/29/1935 Father (22) and Mother's (17) first date: their engagement ring has this date.	11/10/1938 Kemal Ataturk dies. Gen. İsmet İnönü is president, in 1939, 1943, and 1946.
June 1940	Father graduates from Medical School, Mother tests him for his final examinations.	Dec. 40: Father is stationed in Gallipoli for 2 years of military service.	9/1/39: WWII begins. Turkey enters into mutual assistance pact with Britain and France, just in case Germany invades, but remains neutral in the war.
	NOTE ==>	While a belligerent Hitler in their proximity may have worried the Turks, Hitler probably never considered invading Turkey. The Turks had been former allies, and they had fought ferociously against the occupying forces after WWI. Hitler was occupied on so many fronts that there was no reason for him to take on also the Turks, for a neutral Turkey served very well to his strategic interests. When following his unexpected quick victory over France Hitler turned east to the Balkans, he was not pursuing conquests for the sake of them. The Balkans was Hitler's contingency food and fuel depot. And control of this area would also help Germany withstand the effects of the British blockade of its shipping. Indeed, Turkey's neutrality also guaranteed its safety, because an impartial Turkey in that location served Hitler better than anything he could have achieved forcefully. He knew that unlike Greece Turkey would never allow the British to use Turkey as a base, in view of Turkish memories from WWI and British instigation of Arabs against Turkey. And surely the Turks did not nurture sentimental ties to its next-door neighbor Greece (nor to Syria and Iraq) which Germany occupied. A neutral Turkey was a very effective buffer zone for Germany's eastern flank. Therefore, Hitler had every reason to honor Turkey's neutrality. And Turkey was doing the prudent thing by being neutral.
10/19/1941	Father comes from Gallipoli to Vezirköprü to marry Mother. On 10/22/41, he returns to Gallipoli, Mother's father to Edirne, Mother to Istanbul.	Nov.1941: "Fisherman's House." Parents have honeymoon in Gallipoli.	June 1940, Hitler moves into Romania. 1941: Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in Axis orbit, food and fuel supplies are safe for Germany. Apr. 41, Hitler forces the British out of Greece; Germany and Britain face off in the Mid-East.
7/15/1942	I was born in Istanbul at 6 p.m. On 4/10/1943, Mother's mother Safiye dies, her father is with another woman. Rootless era begins.
Apr. 1943	Father finishes military service, begins 4 years of national service for his scholarship.	4/22/43: Ünye on the Black Sea. Mother buries her mother, joins Father.
Jul. 1943	Father is assigned to Erzurum: on ship to Trabzon, on land to Erzurum: Aug. 1943.	Jan 44: Erzurum: Father has typhus, in coma for 27 days, Mother desperate.
Mar. 1944	Father is on medical leave: visiting in Samsun, Fatsa, Arhavi. He returns to Erzurum, Mother stays in Arhavi.	6/4/1944, Arhavi: sister Femsi was born at 7 a.m. A midwife, Raife, delivers her.
7/26/1944	Father is assigned to Bafra, a town near the Black Sea. I have malaria; Mother has infection.
Jan. 1946	Father is called to reserve duty in Samsun. We join him a few months later, in our "Orchard Home" rented from a movie actor, staying 6 months.
Oct. 1946	Return to Bafra. 3/2/1947: sister Gülhis (I named her) is born 9 a.m., while Femsi and I watch the roof waiting for the stork.
4/22/1947	Father begins his residency at the Numune Hospital in Ankara, to May 1949.	We move in with Father's brother Sabri and 4 cousins in Üsküdar, Istanbul: 1st friend (cousin) İlhami.
Jul. 1947	We join Father in Ankara, in the country home of a movie actor. Visiting cousins in the military bring us lice.	Sep. 47: Typhoid. Mother is ill; we are scattered.
Jun. 1948	In Istanbul, with Mother's father. The first time we see him, his second wife, and Mother's stepsister in 6 years.	Father is in Ankara; Mother is unhappy at her father's home. I begin 1st grade.
Oct. 1948	In Ankara. I restart 1st grade.	Cousin Necla (18) moves in with us until her marriage in 1953.
May 1949	Father finishes his residency; we move to Samsun on 5/29/49.
Sep.1949	I start second grade at Subaşı Grade School, sisters follow in 1950 and 1953. My teacher, İlhan hanım, also graduates Gülhis. (We met her again in Istanbul in 1986.)
Sep.1953	I start Sankt George Austrian boarding school in Istanbul.	We are well-to-do and upper class now.	1950: Celal Bayar is president, Adnan Menderes the prime minister.
12/31/1955	New Year's party in Samsun: met Florence E. Sutphin, the American exchange teacher, who helped us to migrate to the USA in 1958		1952: Turkey becomes full member of NATO and joins America in Korean War.