45
of the founders of Committee of Union and Progress
(Ittihad-i Osmani Cemiyeti) narrates in his memoirs how
they got bulletins of Young Turks published in Iranian
printing offices at hight costs.
78
Valide Han and other hands
that accommodated Iranian merchants were quite active in
printing and publishing business and they also provided
interactive
space for Ottomans, Iranians and Turks.
Debistan-ı İraniyan (Iranian Primary School- 1883),
a school in which Kirmani, Habib Isfehani, Mirza Mehdi
Ahter, Mirza Rıza Kuli Han Horasani,
Teacher Feyzi Efendy
and Huseyin Danis (Pedram) taught and children of citizens
residing in Istanbul attended began its operation in Valide
Han. Sasani indicates that Mevleviyeh courses on religion
offered in this school caused controversy among Iranians
and even led to physical confrontations and damage to the
school; there was also government pressure from the
Committee of Union and Progress.
79
Iranians in Istanbul did not only work in trade and
printing but also established their own businesses in selling
carpet, sericulture, tobacco, juice, books, dry food and
vegetables. According to Sasani, there were hundreds of
Iranian large-sized enterprises that traded carpet, leather,
soap, fabric (weaving), books, prints and halva. Many
market crafts and artisanship were done by Iranians: selling
tobacco and tea, coffee, shipping and cargo, portage,
carriage etc. While they were in charge of various
businesses, they also trained people.
80
They owned a
cemetery by Kabala River and founded their own hospital
named
Bimarhane-yi İraniyan in 1886. Having founded
Encümen-e Hayriye-yi İranian led by Hace Mirza Fethali
Khan Isfehani, one of the rich Iranians in order to organize
charity work, Iranians seemed to have integrated with
activities:
İbrahim Temo’nun İttihat ve Terakki Anıları, 2. Baskı, İstanbul,
2000, p. 59.
78
Temo, pp. 44- 45.
79
For Debistan-ı İraniyan see Sasani,
Yadbudha-yı Sefaret-i İstanbul, pp.
103- 105; on the other hand, for historical course of Iranian schools and
this school in particular, see Süleyman Büyükkarcı, “Osmanlı Devleti’nde
İran Okulları”
Uluslararası Kuruluşunun 700. Yıl Dönümünde Bütün
Yönleriyle Osmanlı Devleti Kongresi, Bildiriler (7-9 Nisan 1999), Konya,
2000, p. 437 et al.
80
Sasani,
Yadbudha-yı Sefaret-i İstanbul, pp. 94- 95.