Turkish Daily News, Turkey
April 28 2007
A collection of Armenian stamps in the Ottoman Empire
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Elif Ozmenek
NEW YORK – Turkish Daily News
If there is anyone who thinks that Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
is impossible they should get to see Mihran Adman’s stamp collection.
Adman, an Armenian who was born and raised in Istanbul, now resides in
New York and brings two communities together every time he exhibits his
amazing collection of Armenian postal history in the Ottoman Empire.
Quite different from the history books when one looks at this
incredible collection one realizes that the past of the two communities
is inseparable and closely knitted. The stamps in his collection are
not only an important part of Armenian history but also Ottoman/Turkish
history. "A lot of nations’ postal history starts with the Ottoman
Empire," Adman says in explaining the intricate connection.
His collection goes back to 1840, the first year official seals were
used as a part of the Ottoman postal service. However Adman also owns
every single stamp that was printed in the republic’s history.
With his remarkable collection one almost travels in time.
Adman started collecting stamps when he was 15. "I bought my first
collection of stamps for $1,000. That was an incredibly high amount in
1960. This almost led to a family tragedy," Adman smiles. As a fifteen
year old visiting his aunt in Paris he realized a book of Anatolian
stamps and asked his aunt to help him out to buy the collection but
of course she said no. Then Adman managed to entice his grandmother
as the only grandchild in the family. His father went ballistic when
he heard that Mihran paid that much for this one collection. That
was the starting point of his life long journey.
I would have never thought a stamp collection could tell so many
different stories. "If you do not know history well you won’t be
able to collect stamps, or let’s say you won’t be able to form a
collection," Adman says. "For example stamps have deckle edges. In
my collection two of the same stamps have different edges. One has
twelve punched deckle edges the other one has five. The reason for
that was during the war the hole-puncher broke and they used sewing
machines instead to punch holes for the stamps in Istanbul."
The first stamp was published in Istanbul in 1860. "Greece for example
published its first stamp in France because they did not have the
technical capacity. The Ottoman Empire published its first stamp in
Istanbul," said Adman.
Armenians played a crucial role in establishing such a strong postal
service in the empire. Krikor Agaton, the director of general of the
Ottoman postal administration in the 1850s, convinced the Europeans
to use the Ottoman postal service instead of their own.
This way the empire could both control what was being sent and
collect postal taxes. However, after Agaton’s sudden death the
Europeans withdrew from the agreement and never gave up their postal
services until the foundation of the republic. Adman says he feels
upset that today Armenians’ role in such a strong postal service
are not remembered at all. "On some of the envelops I collected over
the years from the Ottoman years the addresses were only written in
Armenian and they reached their destinations just fine because most
of the postal service workers knew Armenian." However, Adman does not
want his stamp collection to be a part of a long lasting political
debate. The Armenian diaspora asked Adman to give his stamps to be
exhibited in the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. He, without
hesitating, refused. In May Adman will be exhibiting his collection
in the Turkish Cultural Center in New York. He also says one day he
wishes to exhibit it in native Istanbul as well.
Adman, who loves Istanbul very much, had to leave his hometown in
1980 because of the increasing attacks on minorities. However, he
never lost touch. Adman is very well known and respected among the
Turkish community in Long Island as well.
"On this boat ticket," he says, showing one interesting piece from
his collection, "There are four languages, Ottoman, Greek, Armenian
and French on four different corners. That is how multicultural the
empire was," Adman says with a hope that one day Turkey can embrace
its multicultural past full heartedly.
On April 24 of this year, like the last 92 years, many think that
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation is impossible: To those who think
this way I recommend that they find Adman and look at his amazing
stamp collection.