nekleri.[...]Ifonebelievestoknowbetter,thenoneshouldnothaveletmecomefromGer-
many.”¹¹³AtthistimetheheadoftheGerman-Ottomanprojecthadalreadydecidedto
leave.SelimSırrı,hisrighthand,alsofacedoppositiontohiswork.Inaletter
toHoff,SelimSırrıstatedthefollowing:
“IknowthatIhaveenemies,butIcanassureyouthatIdonothavethoseenemiesbecause
ofcooperatingwithyou.ThoseenemiespersecutedmelongbeforeyourarrivaltoTurkey
withtheirillwill.Theonewhostrivesforanidealwillalwaysfindsuchopponentson
hisway.IamusedtofightingandIamnotwillingtoretreatfromtheenemyatanytime,
evenifmyfamilyandmywealtharethreatened.Therefore,itisimpossibleformetofollow
yourwell-intentionedadviceandtosecedefromyou.”¹¹⁴SelimSırrı’spolicieshadevidentlycausedsevereresistance,asindicatedinthe
aforementioneddisagreementwithAliFaik[Üstünidman]regardingtheissueof
gymnasticsversusTurnen.ItisthusnotquitesurprisingthatSelimSırrıdidnot
mentionhiscooperationwithHoffinhismemoirs(1946).Theseomissionscanbe
seenasaclearnegationofanyGermaninfluenceonhiswork.¹¹⁵Likeinpre-war
Germany,therewasalsoopenresistancetotheOGD.In1 918 somemotherswant-
edtheirboystobereleasedfromservice,sincetheyfearedthattheymightbe
senttothefronteventhoughtheywereunderaged.¹¹⁶Unfortunately,duetowar-
timecensorship,morecriticalOttomansourcesonthisissuearerare.
TherewerealsodifferencesbetweenHoffandSelimSırrıregardingthe
sportsagenda oftheOGD.Hoffwasagainsttheintroductionofgymnastic
sporteventsintheOGDashewantedtofocusmoreonparamilitaryexercise.
WhenSelimSırrıheldthefirstOttomanpublicgymnasticsfeast(İdmanBayramı)
inKadıköyon1May1 91 7,Hoffleftinanger.However,theOttomanGeneralMus-
tafaKemal[Atatürk]wasimpressedbytheacrobaticshowofthemilitarycadets
andOGDmembers.ThiscompetitionbecamearegularinstitutionintheRepub-
licancalendarafter 1923 .¹¹⁷
ArticleinthenewspaperTesvir-ıEfkar, 13 September 1332 /1 916 ;quotedafterthetranslation
ofHoff’saide-de-champinHStASM6 60 – 115 Nr.33,2,6.
SelimSırrıtoHoff, 16 May1 91 7;HStAStgtM660– 115.
SelimSırrıTarcan:Hatıralarım[MyMemoirs],(Istanbul:TürkiyeYayınevi,1946);Akcan,İt-
tihatveTerakkiFırkası’nın,8.
Akcan,İttihatveTerakkiFırkası’nın,2 86.
MehmetÖ.Alkan,“OsmanlıİdmanBayramı’ndanAtatürk’üAnma,GençlikveSporBayr-
amı’na”[FromtheOttomanPhysicalExerciseFeasttotheAtatürkCommemoration,Youthand
SportsDay],ToplumsalTarih 21 1( 20 11), 33.
Hoff’sReturnandtheEndoftheOsmanlıGençDernekleri 127