Bodrum becomes sister cities with Japanese town

A frigate that sank off the Japanese shore 119 years ago has helped create a “friendship bridge” between Japan and Turkey.

The Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul, which was reciprocating a goodwill trip to Japan after a Japanese delegation’s visit to the Ottoman Empire in 1887, ran aground off the coast of Japan on Sept. 15, 1890 during its return voyage. A total of 533 sailors died in the accident while the Japanese managed to rescue 69.

More than a century after the accident, Tufan Turanlı, head of the underwater excavation team that prepared the detailed map of the area where the Ertuğrul sank, gave a speech last week at the Wakayama Prefecture Congress. He provided attendees with information about a project titled "Ertuğrul – A Turkish Frigate in Japan" that was launched in 2007 to bring the frigate to the surface.

Turanlı has been declared an honorary citizen of Kushimoto while the Japanese town and Turkey’s popular Mediterranean resort town of Bodrum have been declared sister cities. As a result, a Japanese tourism firm will open a “Turkish-Japanese Friendship Restaurant” in Bodrum’s Yalıkavak district with an investment of $500,000.

Kushimoto is already a sister city with the Yakakent district in the northern province of Sinop and the eastern Mediterranean province of Mersin.

Turanlı said Wakayama Prefecture, located in the southwestern part of the Kii peninsula, has similarities with Muğla in terms of weather, geography, nature, respect for the environment and hospitality of its people. He added that the relations that started between the two countries after the disaster in 1890 have been rapidly developing in recent years.

“The Japanese are gearing up for a major promotional campaign as 2010 has been declared ‘Japanese Year’ in Turkey,” said Turanlı, who is also the president of the Bodrum and Caria Culture, Arts and Promotion Foundation, or BOSAV. “At such a time, we want the Japanese to learn more about Bodrum. Most Japanese tourists visiting Turkey only know Istanbul and don’t visit other popular destinations.”

Project to lure Japanese tourists

Turanlı said a joint project by the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo and the Japanese Tourism Ministry will offer 10-day tours to Turkey that will particularly aim to increase the number of Japanese tourists to the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. “I was very happy to see that the Japanese are very eager about the project,” said Turanlı.

Wakayama Prefecture Congress Speaker Fujio Endo has been supporting the Ertuğrul project both financially and morally since the very beginning, Turanlı said. He also delivered Endo a letter from Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon inviting him to the Aegean town in April. The speaker will be in Bodrum with a culture and tourism-related delegation and 20 journalists in an effort to increase bilateral ties.

“I am also honored to be declared an honorary citizen,” said Turanlı. “I am the first Turk to give a speech at the congress and the first foreign honorary citizen of Wakayama.”

Endo said he would be glad to help improve bilateral relations with Bodrum, which will contribute to the relationship between the people of Turkey and Japan.

History has shown that Turks are friendly, hospitable and have always been advocates of peace, said Endo.

“As Japan improves its relations with Turkey, which has greatly improved with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, we want to create a stable friendship bridge,” he said. “I believe that the warm hand from Bodrum has brought us close despite the thousands of kilometers that separate us. The world is not as big as many think.”

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About the Ertuğrul Frigate accident

The frigate Ertuğrul had been sent by Sultan Abdülhamit II to the emperor of Japan on a goodwill visit. It set sail on July 14, 1889 and, after sailing for a little under a year, arrived in Japan on June 1890.

On the return voyage, the Ottoman ship ran aground just 16 days into its voyage on the rocks of Kashinozaki off the coast of Ooshima Island during a severe typhoon. The tragedy resulted in the loss of 533 men, of whom 50 were officers. Only six officers and 63 sailors survived.

An Ertuğrul Monument now stands near a lighthouse on Kushimoto in memory of those pioneers of Turkish-Japanese friendship. The compassion demonstrated by the Japanese people in saving and returning the survivors to Istanbul has left a lasting memory of gratitude in the minds of Turkish people. The tragic accident thus became a solemn symbol of friendship between the two nations.

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Items to have floating exhibition

Items recovered from the Ertuğrul, will be exhibited aboard a ship to sail around Turkey’s coast next year before visiting Japan.

The STS Bodrum, an educational vessel that belongs to BOSAV, will sail around Turkey from April to November 2010 displaying items from the sunken vessel.

Kocadon said last June the project would help create a “cultural bridge” between Bodrum and Japan. “With the STS Bodrum exhibition and the projects to follow, we want to host our Japanese friends in the Bodrum region and to inform them about our historical and cultural values,” he said.

The voyage will start from the Black Sea city of Rize and will end in the East Mediterranean town of İskenderun. The ship will make stops in various cities and ports during its trip.

Once the Turkey leg is completed, the STS Bodrum will follow the same route as the Ertuğrul did between 1889 and 1890 in carrying the recovered items to Japan.

The vessel will also visit Kushimoto during its Japanese trip.