HURRIYET- Columnist Oktay Eksi writes on the demolition of the Ecyad Castle in Saudi Arabia. A summary of his column is as follows:
It has been learned that the Ecyad Castle, a piece of both Ottoman and Saudi Arabian history, has been demolished under the orders of Saudi King Fahd. It remains to be seen if the revenues of the hotel to be built in its place will be used to help cover the expenses of Harem-i Sherif as claimed or rather fill the purse of a prince. In either case, the Ecyad castle built by the Ottomans in 1780 to protect the sacred assets of the Islamic world will be forgotten. The Saudi leaders aren't short on historical awareness, but we can add that they do lack national honor. We know this is the case because they have made a house that the British spy Thomas Edward Lawrence once stayed in into a museum. It is true that Lawrence provoked them to rebel against the Ottomans, but he also saw them as tools of the British. You cannot explain to them the importance of the Ecyad Castle. Therefore, there is no use in talking the issue over with the Saudis, especially when the castle is already demolished. The important thing is to take the matter to international platforms, and organize an international reaction similar to the one shown when the Taliban destroyed the great Buddha monument in Afghanistan. It cannot be said that we are seriously protecting our historical values. Our behaviour in protecting other cultural legacies within our borders is not enlightened either. However, Turkey recognizes these assets today and probably it must teach this to the Saudis.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION