The Saga of a Friendship – Asa Kent Jennings and the American Friends of Turkey

This book, which is based on archival documents and private letters that are being used for the first time, chronicles the little known but fascinating story of Asa Kent Jennings, a YMCA secretary, who arrived to İzmir in September 1922 just after the Turkish Nationalist Forces had liberated the city from the invading Greek Forces. A year later Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] proclaimed the birth of the Turkish Republic. Asa Kent and his son Asa Will Jennings were thus eyewitnesses to the building of modern Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the other Republican leaders. They were at the same time important but little known actors in propagating social work activities in Turkey, such as donating pure bred cattles to the Gazi Farm in Ankara, building up playgrounds, libraries, giving assistance to Turkish students for graduate studies in America, assisting the Childrens Protection Society (Himaye-i Etfal), and so forth. The American Friends of Turkey society that Asa Kent Jennings established in July 1930 was instrumental in all these activities. Asa Kent Jennings was also present in the negotiations and talks with Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver, the president of the nationalistic Turkish Hearths (Türk Ocakları) organization, which eventually resulted in Arthur Nash, an American businessman of the Universalist faith, donating a sizeable sum of money to this organization for the erection of their headquarters building in Ankara. Bu kitap 1922 yılının Eylül ayında İzmire gelen YMCA (Genç Hıristiyanlar Cemiyeti) sekreteri Asa Kent Jenningsin hikâyesini anlatmakta. Jenningsin İzmire vardığı tarih, İzmirin Yunan işgalinden kurtarıldığı tarihtir. Uzun yıllar Türkiyede yaşayacak olan Asa Kent ve oğlu Asa Will Jennings, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ve silah arkadaşlarının Türkiye Cumhuriyetini inşa etme çabalarına birinci elden tanık olacak ve Cumhuriyetin kurucu liderleri ile bizzat tanışacaklardır. Baba-oğul Jenningsler aynı zamanda Ankaradaki Gazi Çiftliğine saf kan damızlık inek hibe edilmesi, çocuklar için oyun bahçeleri kurulması, kütüphanelerin kurulması, Amerikan üniversitelerinde eğitim görmeleri için Türk öğrencilerine burs temin etme, Himaye-i Etfal Cemiyetine yardım etme gibi birçok sosyal faaliyetlerde bulunacaklardır. Asa Kent Jennings 1930 yılının Temmuz ayında The American Friends of Turkey (Türkiyenin Amerikalı Dostları) cemiyetini tescil edecek ve faaliyetlerini bu cemiyet vasıtasıyla devam ettirecekti. Jennings aynı zamanda YMCA cemiyeti ile Türk Ocakları Reisi Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver arasında cereyan eden ve Amerikalı sanayici Arthur Nashın cemiyetin Merkez Binasının Ankarada inşası için Türk Ocaklarına önemli bir meblağı hibe etmesiyle sonuçlanan müzakerelerde de hazır bulunacaktır.Türk-Amerikan ilişkilerinin şimdiye kadar hiç bilinmeyen bir yanını inceleyen ve ilk kere gün ışığına çıkan arşiv belgeleri ve Jennings ailesinin özel arşivinden yararlanılarak hazırlanan bu çalışma Cumhuriyetin ilk yirmi yılına birinci elden tanıklık yapmakta.

This book, which is based on archival documents and private letters that are being used for the first time, chronicles the little known but fascinating story of Asa Kent Jennings, a YMCA secretary, who arrived to İzmir in September 1922 just after the Turkish Nationalist Forces had liberated the city from the invading Greek Forces. A year later Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] proclaimed the birth of the Turkish Republic. Asa Kent and his son Asa Will Jennings were thus eyewitnesses to the building of modern Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the other Republican leaders. They were at the same time important but little known actors in propagating social work activities in Turkey, such as donating pure bred cattles to the Gazi Farm in Ankara, building up playgrounds, libraries, giving assistance to Turkish students for graduate studies in America, assisting the Childrens Protection Society (Himaye-i Etfal), and so forth. The American Friends of Turkey society that Asa Kent Jennings established in July 1930 was instrumental in all these activities. Asa Kent Jennings was also present in the negotiations and talks with Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver, the president of the nationalistic Turkish Hearths (Türk Ocakları) organization, which eventually resulted in Arthur Nash, an American businessman of the Universalist faith, donating a sizeable sum of money to this organization for the erection of their headquarters building in Ankara. Bu kitap 1922 yılının Eylül ayında İzmire gelen YMCA (Genç ... tümünü göster