Turkish architect Sinan claimed to be headless in tomb

The author of a soon-to-be-released book has said he can prove that the skull of the Ottoman era’s most acclaimed architect was taken from his tomb to try and show that he was an ethnic Turk.

According to Professor Selçuk Mülayim from Marmara University, the corpse of Mimar Sinan, best known for the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, was taken from its modest tomb next to that building Aug. 1, 1935, in order to measure the famed architect’s skull.

Documents show that the team, headed by Turkish Historical Society Director Hasan Cemil Çambel, society member Sevket Aziz Kansu and historian Afet Inan, conducted the excavation in an hour, Mülayim told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review recently.

"The purpose was to prove he was an ethnic Turk," the professor said. "Kansu took measurements with compasses and other tools and from these measurements it was decided that he was an ethnic Turk."

..appreciation of Mimar Sinan in Europe, where people were increasingly claiming that the great architect could not have been Turkish, ...

To this day, few members of the Turkish public know that the man hailed as the greatest of Ottoman architects was actually a Muslim convert of Armenian origin...

In his book, Mülayim suggests that not only Sinan’s skull, but also those of some of the leaders of the Selçuks, one of the Turkic peoples that ruled Anatolia, are missing from their tombs, he told the Daily News.

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Article

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=-2010-07-09

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Bear in mind that, I gave the name of Afet Inan in the thread http://www.turkishclass.com/turkish/forum/forumTitle_47305_2 - post no 14

We always knew that Turkish Historical Society´s researches about our Turkishness included ´measuring thousand of skulls´..

I am glad to see that NOW it being publicly discussed as well..

People will be able to see more clearly "what has been done when they were trying to prove all those claims such as Chengis was a Turk; American natives; Mayan people; Scotts; Irish; Hungarians etc are all Turks.´

ps.. Actually, I think he was a Greek originally.. Not an Armenian..