“Pederasty in the Ottoman Empire (1451-1839)”
A new book in Turkish was published by Libra Books in Turkey. It is titled, “Pederasty in the Ottoman Empire (1451-1839)”, written by Yasin Özdemir.
Here is a brief review:
The Divan-i Before the Sultan, a woman named Şikem anxiously awaited a verdict. Perhaps this was the first time she had ever left her hometown of Bayburt. Since she was widowed, she was responsible for most of the household chores, including court cases.
What event had driven her to the capital of the empire she belonged to? If it had been a case concerning herself, perhaps she wouldn’t have gone so far, but it was a matter concerning her son.
Two men, Mehmed and Okçu, both government officials living in Bayburt, had raped her son, Parlak. A local court had found the perpetrators guilty, but because they were government officials and armed men, they could not be brought to court to face their sentences. Moreover, Mehmed and Okçu had disappeared upon hearing the verdict.
So, what was the significance of this event in a small town of the Ottoman Empire? How did the case conclude? How did the state intervene and take precautions? Besides Parlak, who else experienced similar events? What did literary works or travelers who visited this region say about this? This work was written with the aim of answering many long-debated questions by using documents from that period.
