GERMAN OFFICES ABROAD - TURKEY (TÜRKEI)
Turkey, known officially as the Republic of Turkey, is a Eurasian
country located 97% in Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and 3%
in East Thrace in Europe.
Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest;
Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Iran to the east; Iraq and Syria to the southeast.
The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to
the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the
Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits)
demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also
separate Europe and Asia.
History
Turks began migrating into the area now called Turkey in the 11th
century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over
the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert.
Several small beyliks and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol Empire's invasion.
The Ottoman beylik's first capital was located in Bursa in 1326.
Edirne which was conquered in 1361 was the next capital city. After
largely expanding to Europe and Anatolia, in 1453, the Ottomans nearly
completed the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital,
Constantinople during the reign of Mehmed II.
The Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in the 16th and 17th
centuries. The Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 marked the beginning of the
Ottoman decline. Some territories were lost by the treaty. Austria
received all of Hungary and Transylvania except the Banat. The Republic
of Venice obtained most of Dalmatia along with the Morea (the
Peloponnesus peninsula in southern Greece). Poland recovered Podolia.
The alliance system of Europe was dramatically altered after 1870.
Germany was confronted by two geographical limitations: the possibility
of its North Sea ports being effectively shut off from the North
Atlantic and the absence of any easy frontier for expansion. Technically
outside the European alliance system laid the Ottoman Empire. Weakened
over centuries, the Ottoman Empire continued to control a large portion
of the Balkan Peninsula.
By the late 19th Century the Ottoman Empire was weak, and cheap
imports from industrialised Europe and the effects of a disastrous war
had resulted in the country's finances being controlled by the Ottoman
Public Debt Administration, composed of and answerable to the Great
Powers.
German–Turkish relations have their beginnings in the times of the
Ottoman Empire and have culminated in the development of strong bonds
with many facets that include economic, military, cultural and social
relations.
With the possible accession of Turkey to the European Union, of which
Germany is the biggest member, and the existence of a huge Turkish
Diaspora in Germany, these relations have become more and more
intertwined over the decades.
The Baghdad Railway, the Ottoman–German Alliance, the pursuit of
Goeben and Breslau and The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, were
the most important examples for the main cooperation between German and
Ottoman Empires.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire
continued losing its territories, including Greece, Algeria, Tunisia,
Libya and the Balkans in the 1912–1913 Balkan Wars.
On October 30, 1918, the Armistice of Mudros was signed, followed by
the imposition of Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920 by Allied Powers,
which was never ratified. The Treaty of Sèvres would break up the
Ottoman Empire and force large concessions on territories of the Empire
in favour of Greece, Italy, Britain and France.
Following World War I in which Turkey was defeated, most of Anatolia
and Eastern Thrace was occupied by the Allied powers including the
capital city Istanbul. In order to resist the occupation, a cadre of
young military officers formed a government in Ankara. The elected
leader of the Ankara Government, Mustafa Kemal organized a successful
war of independence against the Allied powers. After the liberation of
Anatolia and the Eastern Thrace, the Republic of Turkey was established
in 1923 with capital city Ankara.
Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II but entered on
the side of the Allies on February 23, 1945, as a ceremonial gesture and
in 1945 became a charter member of the United Nations.
Turkey began full membership negotiations with the European Union in
2005, having been an associate member of the European Economic Community
since 1963 and having reached a customs union agreement in 1995.
Postal history in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey)
The Office opened as "North German Postal Agency" was renamed to "German Empire Post Office" on May 6, 1871, and served as the Pera (Beyoğlu) post office, the European quarter, while a second post Office was opened in the (then) city district of Constantinople (now Istanbul), the Turkish quarter. The Pera post office was moved to Galata.After January 1872, the Reichspost took over the management of the office and expanded it further as "Deutsche Post in der Türkei".
With the entry of Turkey into WWI the offices were closed on September 30, 1914.
Opening date of Post offices:
- Constantinople 1 – March 1, 1870;
- Constantinople 2 – January 1, 1876;
- Transfer of the main Post Office from Pera to Galata in City Centre, (Constantinople 1) – October 1, 1877;
- Jaffa Post Office – October 1, 1898;
- Smyrna Post Office – February 28, 1900;
- Beirut and Jerusalem Post Offices – March 1, 1900;
- New Constantinople in the Pera Quarter (Constantinople 3) – March 1, 1900;
- Closing of all German Post Offices – September 30, 1914;
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