Camels to iPods, a history of gift-giving
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by Safak Timur
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 11, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - From camels to an iPod, racehorses to a set of DVDs, U.S. presidents have a long history of exchanging gifts with world leaders, including Ottoman sultans and Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
New U.S. President Barack Obama’s first presents to world leaders were an iPod for the British Queen Elizabeth II and a DVD movie set for the U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, both small, high-tech gifts, especially compared to the camels that were sent to the United States from the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century. Swords, snuffboxes, pens, photograph albums and short films have also changed hands in such exchanges.
President Obama’s reference during his address in Parliament on Monday to the tablet sent by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1855 to be placed on the Washington Monument made many aware of the longstanding nature of relations between Turks and Americans. Abdülmecid was also the source of the 19th century camels.
The sultan learned that the United States needed camels for its fights with Native Americans, who had withdrawn into the American desert. "When an American ship under the navigation of David Nixon Porter came to Istanbul to buy 30 camels, Abdülmecid gifted two more camels to improve relations," said the poet Sunay Akın, who has researched the issue. The story of the camels did not end there. Hacı Ali, known as Hi Jolly in the United States, went to America as a camel keeper.
He stayed there and married an American woman. A monument to Hi Jolly in Quartzsite, Arizona, is one of the most visited tourist sites in the region, according to Wikipedia.
"There are only newspaper stories as resources about Hacı Ali," said Çağrı Erhan from Ankara University, who has studied relations between the Ottoman Empire and the United States. Besides camels, Erhan said, another interesting present from the Ottoman Empire was two Arab horses that were sent to America during the rule of Sultan Abdülhamid. "However, the president could not receive the presents because they were very expensive and according to U.S. law, gifts of more than a certain value cannot be given to presidents," Erhan said. In addition to presents with diplomatic meanings, the Ottoman Empire also made gestures to improve relations with the United States. It was an Ottoman tradition to give awards to successful citizens of foreign countries that had close relations with the empire, Erhan wrote in his book "Historical Roots of Turkish-American Relations."
Morse’s first foreign award
"Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph, which was first heavily used in the Crimean War, was awarded by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1850 because of his services to humanity," Erhan wrote in the book. "It was Morse’s first award from a foreign country."
Another significant gift was a precious carpet that Sultan Abdülaziz sent to American President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871.
Along with gifts and gestures between two countries, interesting anecdotes mark the history of their relations. Solace, a hospital ship, was the only vessel that survived the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II. "The ship saved 25,000 people, and mothers in the United States waited for Solace to return to see whether their sons would come out of it," said Akın.
President Obama’s reference during his address in Parliament on Monday to the tablet sent by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1855 to be placed on the Washington Monument made many aware of the longstanding nature of relations between Turks and Americans. Abdülmecid was also the source of the 19th century camels.
The sultan learned that the United States needed camels for its fights with Native Americans, who had withdrawn into the American desert. "When an American ship under the navigation of David Nixon Porter came to Istanbul to buy 30 camels, Abdülmecid gifted two more camels to improve relations," said the poet Sunay Akın, who has researched the issue. The story of the camels did not end there. Hacı Ali, known as Hi Jolly in the United States, went to America as a camel keeper.
He stayed there and married an American woman. A monument to Hi Jolly in Quartzsite, Arizona, is one of the most visited tourist sites in the region, according to Wikipedia.
"There are only newspaper stories as resources about Hacı Ali," said Çağrı Erhan from Ankara University, who has studied relations between the Ottoman Empire and the United States. Besides camels, Erhan said, another interesting present from the Ottoman Empire was two Arab horses that were sent to America during the rule of Sultan Abdülhamid. "However, the president could not receive the presents because they were very expensive and according to U.S. law, gifts of more than a certain value cannot be given to presidents," Erhan said. In addition to presents with diplomatic meanings, the Ottoman Empire also made gestures to improve relations with the United States. It was an Ottoman tradition to give awards to successful citizens of foreign countries that had close relations with the empire, Erhan wrote in his book "Historical Roots of Turkish-American Relations."
Morse’s first foreign award
"Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph, which was first heavily used in the Crimean War, was awarded by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1850 because of his services to humanity," Erhan wrote in the book. "It was Morse’s first award from a foreign country."
Another significant gift was a precious carpet that Sultan Abdülaziz sent to American President Ulysses S. Grant in 1871.
Along with gifts and gestures between two countries, interesting anecdotes mark the history of their relations. Solace, a hospital ship, was the only vessel that survived the Pearl Harbor attack during World War II. "The ship saved 25,000 people, and mothers in the United States waited for Solace to return to see whether their sons would come out of it," said Akın.