A hidden nugget about Boris Johnson

Tomorrow, Friday 24th July, marks the 86th anniversary of the day Turkey signed the Treaty of Lausanne. It is a fitting time to publish the second in the Makers of the Modern World series that was announced last autumn: From the Sultan to Atatürk: Turkey by Andrew Mango (price £12.99 hardback on its own, £9.99 to subscribers of the series).

32 nations fought in the First World War. This 32-book series looks at the seminal events surrounding the Paris peace treaties through the eyes of the key leaders involved – genuinely the Makers of the Modern World.

Andrew Mango’s text is full of intriguing background stories giving context to the events and decisions surrounding the Treaty.

Boris Johnson’s great grandfather, Ali Kemal enters the story on page 150. Ali Kemal is a journalist too, but he is also an advisor to the Sultan. Ali Kemal is hated by the nationalists, whose lynch mob beat him to death. Andrew reveals that the panic at the brutal death of Ali Kemal caused the last Ottoman Sultan to flee his palace and was pivotal to the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Following Ali Kemal’s death, Turks who had cooperated with the Allies in Istanbul were terrified and they sought refuge in the embassies and consulate of Allied states. It stoked the panic that caused Vehadettin, the last Ottoman Sultan to flee the Ylidiz Palace at dawn, smuggled out in the back of an ambulance to a waiting British warship on 17th November 1922. The full story in the book has other colourful details surrounding the event.

Andrew Mango is the author of Atatürk (1999), The Turks Today (2004) and several other books on the region. He was head of BBC Turkish broadcasting for 14 years, and later Head of its South European Service.

Picture Caption: Ali Kemal’s wedding