Newsletters
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan handed Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam a Turkish translation of the memoirs of his grandfather, Selim Ali Salam, during their meeting at Vahdettin Kosku in Istanbul, in a gesture tied to Beirut's late Ottoman political history.
Salam shared a photo on Instagram showing the moment Erdogan presented him with the translated memoirs.
According to Salam, his grandfather Selim Ali Salam was the founder of the Beirut Reform Movement and served as a deputy for Beirut in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies, known as the Meclis-i Mebusan, in 1908 and 1914.
Salam described his grandfather as a leading figure in the enlightenment and reform movement of his time. He also noted that Selim Ali Salam was among the members of the Executive Committee of the First Arab Congress, held in Paris in 1913.
The Lebanese prime minister said his grandfather played a role in shaping Arab nationalist demands that called for decentralization and modernization within the Ottoman Empire.
TWEET
Selim Ali Salam later served as mayor of Beirut, known in Ottoman usage as sehremini, between 1918 and 1919. His memoirs, which shed light on the final period of the Ottoman Empire and Arab political history, were translated into Turkish under the title "Memoirs of the Mayor of Beirut (1908-1918)."
Salam visited Türkiye as part of an official trip and was received by Erdogan at Vahdettin Kosku in Istanbul.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
3 min read
