Eldest member of Ottoman dynasty to be buried today

The relatives of Osmanoğlu, who was 97 years old when he died, accepted condolences yesterday at his house in the Teşvikiye neighborhood of İstanbul. Mahmut Tarzi, the brother of Osmanoğlu's wife, told reporters that a religious funeral would take place at Sultanahmet Mosque and then he will be buried at the garden of the tomb of Mahmud II, where Osmanoğlu's grandfather, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, also rests.

“He loved the soil of this country. Whenever he came here, he mentioned that Turkey was his country. He once said the day he received a Turkish passport was the happiest day of his life. He lived in numerous countries, which all offered to give him a passport. But he rejected these offers and said: ‘My country is Turkey. I cannot accept another one.' He was a precious person,” Tarzi said.

Born in 1912 at Yıldız Palace in İstanbul -- when the Ottoman Empire was still in existence and the Ottomans still ruled a vast territory -- Osmanoğlu has been the eldest surviving member of the Ottoman royal family since 1994. Osmanoğlu was 10 when he left İstanbul and went to Vienna for his education. When the caliphate was abolished in 1924 by the newly founded Turkish Republic, members of the Ottoman royal family were expelled from the country. The Osmanoğlu family was granted amnesty in 1974; however, he rejected this offer of Turkish citizenship, stating that they did not need amnesty since they had done nothing wrong. Osmanoğlu returned to Turkey in 1992 for the first time in 53 years upon the invitation of the Turkish prime minister at the time. He was granted a Turkish passport and citizenship in 2004.

Tomb of Mahmud II

The tomb of Mahmud II, where Ottoman Sultans Mahmud II, Abdulaziz and Abdul Hamid II were laid to rest, was constructed in 1840, and the tomb is administered by İstanbul Museum of Shrines Directorate.

Osmanoğlu's wife, Zeynep Osmanoğlu, applied to the directorate to ask whether her husband could be buried in the tomb next to other sultans, director Hayrullah Cengiz told the Anatolia news agency. “We told her there was no suitable place for the burial of her husband inside the mausoleum, but we stated that we could find a place in the garden, where around 150 important figures such as pashas, grand viziers and officers from the Ottoman period were buried,” he noted.

He also stated that there is still more space for graves in the garden, adding that if another member of the Ottoman royal family wants to be buried there, there will be no problem.

Comparing Osmanoğlu to his grandfather, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Tarzi said Osmanoğlu was similar to Abdul Hamid in many ways, like his interest in music and woodcrafts. He also stressed that their farsightedness was also striking. When Osmanoğlu first saw the current US President Barack Obama on television five years ago, he said he would be the future president of the US.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül also showed interest in Osmanoğlu. Erdoğan had first visited Osmanoğlu and his family in the US in 2004 when Osmanoğlu received a Turkish passport and also during his later trips to the country. “Ertuğrul Osman Efendi told us about Turkish authorities' interest and respect for him because of his Ottoman roots, and he was very pleased with that,” Tarzi said.

Died where he was born

Noting that his sister, Zeynep Tarzi, never left Osmanoğlu alone when he was admitted to the intensive care unit, Mahmut Tarzi said Zeynep Tarzi and Osmanoğlu came from New York to Turkey two months ago for vacation. Tarzi further stated that Osmanoğlu underwent two medical examinations, which revealed that he had renal failure, in İstanbul, and doctors refused to allow him to go abroad. He was taken to the American Hospital and kept in the intensive care unit, yet could not survive despite doctors' efforts and died where he was born.