Eastern Mediterranean University Atatürk Research and Application Center (EMU ATAUM) Chair Assist. Prof. Dr. Turgay Bülent Göktürk's new book has been published under the title "Famagusta Sancak in the Struggle for Existence from the Archive of Hilmi Kılgın (Commander Kılgın). Asst. Prof. Dr. Turgay Bülent Göktürk decided to donate the proceeds obtained from 500 copies of his book to the EMU Student Scholarship Fund. The book will be on sale at Deniz Shop on EMU Campus and Deniz Plaza in Famagusta city center on Saturday, 24 October, 2020.
EMU Rector’s Office Thanks Göktürk
EMU ATAUM Chair Asst. Prof. Dr. Turgay Bülent Göktürk visited the EMU Rector's Office at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, 19 October 2020, and presented his book to EMU Rector Prof. Dr. Aykut Hocanın and Vice Rector for Social and Cultural Affairs Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz İşçioğlu. EMU Rector Prof. Dr. Aykut Hocanın and Vice Rector Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz İşçioğlu thanked Assist. Prof. Dr. Turgay Bülent Göktürk for introducing his work that sheds light on history to our country and for supporting the education of students in need by contributing to the EMU student scholarship fund. Asst. Prof. Dr. Göktürk expressed his feelings on this issue as "It gives us a different honor to support our students, who are the guarantors of our future."
Based on Official Documents
The personal archive of the deceased Hilmi Commander, who served as Dal 2 in the Sanjak of Famagusta, was used as a source and was completed in about one and a half years, and it is explained on the basis of official documents on Hilmi Kılgın’s and his friends’ experiences during the Struggle for Existence.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Göktürk explained the preparation process of the book as follows: “The son of the deceased Hilmi Kılgın, who came to visit me in my office in February 2019, said that he had a significant part of his father's archive, stated that he wanted to keep his father's memory alive with the correct evaluation of these and asked me for support. We started the work immediately.”
During the process, most of the handwritten or typed articles were transferred to the computer. After the classification and evaluation had been completed, I first considered that it would be appropriate to create a book describing the place of Famagusta in the Struggle for Existence in the light of these documents. Within this framework, a book, whose framework was formed by Sancak Ceridesi and supported by other documents, was created. Some events were confirmed by the statements of living witnesses who encountered the events in those times.
Finally, I think that a work worthy of the memory of the deceased Hilmi Commander came into existence at the end of nearly one and a half years of work. We are happy if we were able to convey to future generations what our heroic warriors experienced in the past and what they could not, in order to ensure a free and peaceful life today. For this purpose, we commemorate all our martyrs with mercy and gratitude and offer our feelings of gratitude to our veterans. "
