Never-seen Anatolia photos in a new book

The Ottoman Empire historian Heath W. Lowry has released the book 25 years after the journalist Clarence K. Streit, who had visited Anatolia, asked him to release it.

A new book titled “Bilinmeyen Türkler” (Unknown Turks), prepared by Istanbul’s Bahçeşehir University lecturer and Ottoman Empire historian Heath W. Lowry, has been issued for sale.

The book, based on the notes and photos of U.S. journalist Clarence K. Streit, who visited Ankara in 1920 and 1921, includes never before published photos of Anatolia and an interview with the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Streit was known as the founder of an international movement that aimed at forming a confederation to prevent war, Lowry said to Anatolia news agency.

During his two months of travel to Anatolia, Streit took nearly 200 photos, and 120 of them were included in the book, Lowry said. Streit was able to speak with many memorable people during his visits, including Atatürk.

“He was the first journalist to interview Atatürk after he became the president of the assembly,” Lowry said. “In this interview, which was made at the time of the national struggle, he asked Atatürk 19 questions on various issues and took clear answers. Stret visited Ankara to see Turkey’s national struggle. The Anatolian towns that he also visited caused him to see the daily life there.”

Streit returned to Paris after his Anatolian travels and designed a draft plan for the book, which he called “Unknown Turks,” Lowry said. “But the book was not printed by publishing houses in the U.S. and England because [Streit] praised Atatürk for his success and claimed that the first Turkish Republic in history would be founded.”

According to Lowry, he met Streit in 1983 in Washington through one of his students, Uğur Doğan. Streit gave him a copy of his book because he wanted to see it printed in both Turkish and English. But 25 years passed before he could begin working on the book because of other projects. After documents and photos of Streit were published in 2007, Lowry began work on the book.

“Streit died in 1986 and had taken countless photos in Anatolia,” Lowry said. “These photos are the basis of the book along with the original handwritten copy of the book. Among these photos, there are lots of Atatürk photos that have never been published.”

The book also includes a French press release written about Streit’s coming to Ankara