KUSHIMOTO - Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ozden Ornek, who is currently in Japan for official visit, laid a wreath on the Ertugrul Monument built in memory of martyrs of Ertugrul Frigate which sank off the coast of Ooshima, Kushimoto 113 years ago.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Ornek said that the monument was built in Kushimoto for Turkish sailors who died aboard the frigate 113 years ago and stated that he felt proud of being there.
Ozden and accompanying delegation later visited Ertugrul Museum where materials of Ertugrul Frigate were displayed.
In 1890, Ottoman Emperor Sultan Abdulhamit the Second sent a message in return to Emperor Meiji to reciprocate his gesture. The message of Sultan Abdulhamit the Second was delivered to Emperor Meiji by Admiral Osman Pasha who sailed to Japan on this special mission on board a ship of the Ottoman Navy, thus becoming the first Ottoman Envoy to Japan.
On his voyage back home after successfully accomplishing his emission, Admiral Osman Pasha drowned along with 587 of the 650 sailors on board their ship, the Ertugrul Frigate, which was caught in a typhoon and sunk off the coast of Ooshima, Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture. There stands now in Ooshima, near the lighthouse, the Ertugrul Monument built in memory of those pioneers of Turkish-Japanese friendship.
(EÖ-BRC) 12.11.2003