A Letter (!) from the Former Prime-Minister: Hüseyin Rauf’s (Orbay) Assessments on Matters of the Country

Abstract

As one of the primary source types used in historical research, letters are important because they enable the transfer of feelings, thoughts, and impressions between two people. These documents become particularly valuable when the people who wrote and received the letters have important positions in the history of a country. The documents analyzed in this article, written in the form of letters, include evaluations by former Prime Minister Hüseyin Rauf Bey, addressed to the new Prime Minister Ali Fethi Bey and Deputy Minister of Economy Mahmud Esad Bey. They are about Hüseyin Rauf Bey’s impressions formed as a result of what he saw in the places he visited and the meetings he held with the public during his tour of the country after his resignation. The evaluations in these documents are not included in Hüseyin Rauf Bey’s memoirs, published under the title Cehennem Değirmeni. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that our study based on the aforementioned documents will make an original contribution to the literature.