servedinthe 2 ndGuardDragoon’sRegiment‘EmpressAlexandraofRussia’inBerlin
from 1908 to 1910 .Hiscommander,MajorvonKoch,hadadislikefortheOttoman
officer.Duringthedayhewas“absolutelyharshandviolent”andonlyapproach-
ableafterservicehours.¹¹⁵Whenon 24 January 1910 ,İsmailHakkı’ssquadronlined
upatminus28degreesCelciusat6a.m.theOttomanstagerstartedtremblingand
shakingonhiswholebody.Thisreactionwasimmediatelyspottedbyhismerciless
commander,resultinginareprimandbyvonKoch:
“‘Youshouldknowthatinthisworldonlydrunkards,dogsandprostitutestremble.Anof-
ficerwearingthegloriousuniformofPrussianevertrembles!’Afterthat[incident]Ihave
seenthatinfactdrunkards,dogsandprostituteswho,wearingsilkclothes,walkaround
andlookforclientsinBerlin’sFriedrichstraßetrembledandIhavetoadmitthatMajor
vonKochwasright.”¹¹⁶HerewecanclearlyseethatİsmailHakkıtooktheworldviewofaPrussianoffi-
cerforgranted.HedidnotquestionKoch’sstatement,eventhoughthecompar-
isontoalcoholics,ananimalconsideredimpurein Islamandthescantily
dressedprostitutesactuallywereinacceptableinsultsforanOttomanofficer.
Moreover,headdedthisincidenttohispublishedmemoirs,presentingitas
somethingnormal.IntheeyesoftheGermanofficers,İsmailHakkıwasloyal
toGermany,“absolutelyGermaneducated,hasservedinthe 2 ndGuardDragoons
regimentand,forexample,talksonlyGermantohisbrother,MajorintheGen-
eralStaffAliNuri.”¹¹⁷
IntheeyesofhisOttomanfellowofficers,İsmailHakkıwastooGermanized.
HisfailuretogainmasteryoftheTurkishlanguageandtheslightlyarrogantbe-
havioraddedtohisunpopularstatus,whereaswithhiscosmopolitanand“Ger-
maneducation”heratherresembledafieldmarshal.¹¹⁸Itispreciselythismind-
setthatwasalsoofconcerntoGermanpoliticianscriticizingthegovernmentfor
theroleoftheGermanmilitaryinstructorsintheOttomanarmy.Accordingtothe
SocialDemocratEduardDavid,they“hadbrought–Idonotwanttotalkofmili-
tarytechnology–acertainspiritintotheTurkishofficercorps,thespiritofthe
ʻelegantGuard’sofficer’.”¹¹⁹
İsmailHakkıOkday,YanyaʼdanAnkaraʼyaFromYanyatoAnkara,31.
Okday,Yanya’danAnkara’ya,3 2 – 33 andAnonymous,TürkeninBerlin,6 0 – 61.
GermanmilitarydeputyConstantinopleMajorGienanthtotheGermanMinistryofWar:
“Thronwechsel”,6July1918.BA-MARM3/ 296 5, 26 6.
CfthementioningofOkdayasafictionalcharacterinSelçuk,YüzbaşıSelahattin’inRomanı,
vol.1, 22 9.
Reichstagsprotokolle,vol. 28 6,1912/ 14 ,4,76thsession,3December 1912 ,2 51 4.
AppropriationbetweenAssimilationandSelf-Denial 53