InhisworkSelimSırrıappliedthe‘nationinarms’conceptbyColmarvon
derGoltz.⁶¹However,theambitiousOttomansportsfunctionaryhadstudied
SwedishgymnasticsatitssourceinStockholmin 1909 ,andwasalsoimpressed
bytheHungarianpublicgymnasticdisplaysinBudapestinthesummerof1 91 4.⁶²
SelimSırrıwasnotafollowerofGermanmethodsinallregards,sinceheperson-
allyfavouredSwedishgymnastics.SelimSırrıandtheinfluentialsportsteacher
AliFaik[Üstünidman]arguedonthisissue.AfterhisreturnfromSweden,Selim
SırrıhadmadeagymnasticsperformanceforthestudentsintheMekteb-iSultani
(today’sGalatasarayhighschool)sportshall,theworkplaceofAliFaik.Selim
SırrıfinishedhisgymnasticspresentationwithGermanTurnenexercises,thereby
provinghisabilitytodobothstyles.Thereafter,hedeclaredthatmostcountries
intheworldhadturnedtowardstheSwedishmodelandthattheOttoman
sportsmenshouldalsodoso.AliFaik,withhisWilhelminehandlebarmous-
tache,completelydisagreedwiththisviewand,inthepresenceofSelimSırrı,
appealedtohisstudents’malepride:
“Swedishgymnasticsisforwomen.Shakeyourhand,yourarm;whereisthegymnastic?
Gymnasticswithouttheapparatusisnotpossible.Weworkedoutourbicepssolelywith
GermanTurnen.Pleasestopit.Spareusyoursnot[sümüğünü],withdrawfromyourgym-
nastics...”⁶³SelimSırrı’sviewswerealreadyquestionedbeforetheFirstWorldWar.Mean-
while,duetothedramaticoutcomeoftheBalkanWars,theTurkishPowerAsso-
ciationhadbeencooptedbytheMinistryofWarandtransformedintotheOtto-
manStrengthAssociation(OsmanlıGüçDerneği)on 27 May1 91 4.⁶⁴Inthefirst
monthsofthewar,theOttomanEmpireremainedneutral.Nonetheless,Ottoman
interestintheGermanwayofmobilizingtheyouthwasgrowing.⁶⁵
Cora,“ConstructingandMobilizingtheNation,” 50.
Cora,“ConstructingandMobilizingtheNation,” 62.
SuatAray,BirGalatasaraylınınHatıraları:MektebiSultani’deSaltanat’tanCumhuriyet’e[The
MemoirsofaGalatasarayMember:FromSultanatetoRepublicintheRoyalSchool],(Ankara:
İnkilapKitabevi,n.d.[c. 195 9]), 80 .ForthiscontroversyseealsoDoğanYıldız,TürkSporTarihi
[TurkishSportHistory],(Istanbul:EkoMatbaası,1 97 9), 33 1.
Ateş,AskerEvlatlarYetiştirmek,2 95 – 34 2.
Cf.thepicturesoftwoGermanboys,oneoftheminBJDgarment,intheperiodicalofthe
OttomanNavalLeaguewiththedescription“Thefundamentofvictory:TwoGermanvolunteers,
oneofthem 14 ,theother 15 yearsold,”DonanmaMecmuası 5 – 23 (13 30 /1 91 4), 35 8.
116 3German-Ottoman/TurkishCooperationintheMobilizationofYouth