By Alptekin Soykan and Musa Alcan
ISTANBUL (AA) – Prominent Turkish historian Kadir Misiroglu died at the age of 86 early Monday in Istanbul after a protracted illness.
His death was confirmed by the Ottomans Science and Irfan Foundation, a group he founded.
Ali Ihsan Bahadir, secretary-general of the foundation, said the historian was being treated at a hospital for some time and his death was caused due to multiple organ failure.
“His funeral will be held at [Istanbul's] Camlica Mosque following afternoon prayers. He will be buried at the cemetery of Nasuh Mehmet Efendi Mosque in Uskudar district, ” he added.
Misiroglu, who was born in 1933 in Akcabat district of the Black Sea province of Trabzon, took Quran lessons before starting school.
He spent his childhood buried in books, his friends said.
A major part of his works comprised recent Turkish history starting from the early 20th century.
His first published book was “Lozan: A Victory or Misery? ” in which he criticized the depiction of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) as a victory. The treaty at the end of World War I required Turkey to give up all claims of the Ottoman territories in return of recognition by the Allies of its new borders.
The second edition of the book was banned following several lawsuits.
After his graduation from high school in Erzurum in 1954, he enrolled in the Law Faculty of Istanbul University and settled in Istanbul.
He launched the Sebil Publishing House in Istanbul in 1964.
After the 1980 coup in Turkey, he fled to Frankfurt, Germany bogged down in multiple lawsuits.
Later, he began living in the U.K. as his wife and children were denied residence permits by Germany.
In the period after the coup, his Turkish citizenship was revoked until 1991.
*Writing by Burak Bir
