The personal story of an Ottoman officer whose life encompassed displacement, war and the birth of modern Türkiye will be explored at an Anglo Turkish Society talk in London this November.
Turkish author and researcher Can Çakır will present Memoirs of the Ottoman Major Kadri Bey through his Personal Diary: A Journey from the War of ’93 to the Foundation of the Turkish Republic at the Royal Anthropological Institute on Tuesday 17 November. The hybrid event also offers the opportunity to attend online.
Drawing on her 2024 book, 93 Muhaciri Osmanlı Zabiti Binbaşı Kadri Bey’in Hatıratı’ndan Sergüzeşti (93 Harbi’nden Cumhuriyete Yolculuk), Çakır brings together an individual’s remarkable experiences and the wider upheavals that transformed his homeland.
Originally from Tihilazor village in Artvin, then part of the Ottoman district of Batum, Kadri Bey was among those displaced by the 1877–1878 Ottoman–Russian War, known in Turkish as the 93 Harbi. His memoirs, written in Ottoman Turkish and rendered into modern Turkish in Çakır’s book, offer an intimate perspective on a period often told through the actions of rulers and generals.
A soldier and educator, Kadri Bey served during the Balkan Wars, the First World War and the Turkish War of Independence, with postings that included the Gallipoli battlefields. His career also took him into classrooms: he worked as a military instructor and headmaster, and taught military subjects to Ottoman princes.
Decorated for his service and disabled in combat, he also crossed paths with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Beyond military life, his recollections illuminate subjects ranging from education and religious practice to taxation, transport and healthcare.
Çakır places these experiences alongside research in the Ottoman and Republican archives. Her study follows three connected stories: Kadri Bey’s own life, the mass displacement prompted by the Ottoman–Russian War, and the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, with particular attention to Artvin. Together, they reveal how sweeping historical changes were experienced at a deeply personal level.
About Can Çakır
Born in Üsküdar, Istanbul, and now based in London, Çakır is a teacher, Turkologist and author whose research spans Turkish language, history, culture and folklore. She studied Turkish Language and Literature at Marmara University before undertaking postgraduate studies there and at Middlesex University. Her other books include a study of boza, published in 2019, and a work on Dede Korkut and the Oğuz narratives, published in 2026.
The host, the Anglo Turkish Society, was founded in 1953 to strengthen friendship and understanding between the peoples of Britain and Türkiye. This latest lecture offers an engaging opportunity for anyone interested in Ottoman history, migration and the personal testimonies that help bring the past to life.
Talk Details
Event: Memoirs of the Ottoman Major Kadri Bey through his Personal Diary — Can Çakır
Date: Tuesday 17 November 2026
Time: 6pm–8pm, UK time
Venue: Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT
Online attendance: Available as part of the hybrid event
Tickets: Free for Anglo Turkish Society members. Advance booking is essential; see Eventbrite for other ticket options.
Booking: Reserve your place on Eventbrite
Enquiries: [email protected]
