Turkish President visits Ottoman-themed exhibition center in Japan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday visited an Ottoman-themed exhibition in Kyoto city of Japan after finishing his official talks in line with the G20 summit in Osaka city.

Erdogan said Japan marked 2019 as the Year of Turkish Culture and Turkey dispatched various historical items from the Ottoman Empire era to Japan for exhibition purposes.

"... the exhibition, first in Tokyo and then Kyoto, has received great interest," President Erdogan said, stating cultural exchange was of huge importance which created opportunities that will help the integration of the people of Turkey and Japan.

Erdogan said the Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkey aims to promote Turkish culture abroad by setting similar exhibition centers in various countries.

Japanese Princess Akiko of Mikasa, who accompanied Erdogan, said hosting Turkish historical artifacts was a source of happiness to her.

Japanese princess said she wished the people of Japan and Turkey knew each other better and developed better relations.

The exhibition is called “Treasures and Tradition of "Lale" [Tulip] in Ottoman Empire'' and it has a collection of 170 treasures from the Ottoman Empire – borrowed from Topkapi Palace in Istanbul – that mirrors the rich culture of one of the longest standing empires in world history.

Ara Guler's exhibition

Earlier, President Erdogan opened a photo exhibition featuring the works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler at 800-year-old Tofukuji temple in Kyoto, Japan.

“Ara Guler [is] one of the most successful artists of our country and it is a source of pride for me to inaugurate an exhibition in his name," Erdogan said.

“God willing, we will organize more events that will further boost the ancient friendship of the people of Turkey and Japan throughout the year,” Erdogan said, urging both communities to benefit from one another ’s historical, cultural and social perspectives.

He underlined that Turkey and Japan, two countries located on the eastern and western ends of Asia, both had a rich cultural legacy that they have preserved for centuries. 

He stressed that it was important to create opportunities from which Japenese and Turkish citizens could benefit.

A life behind the lens

Guler was born in Istanbul in 1928. Throughout his life, he was a significant global representative of Turkey's creative photography.

He worked as a Near East photojournalist for Time Life magazine in 1956, for Paris Match in 195 8, and also for German magazine Stern.

Magnum Photos also published Guler's photos globally, and in 1961, he became the first Turkish member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP).

In 1962, Guler was awarded the Master of Leica title in Germany and was featured in a special issue of Swiss Camera magazine, one of the world's leading photography publications.

He also photographed the images for Lord Kinross' 1971 book on Hagia Sophia and the cover photo for a book marking the 90th birthday of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.

His images on art and art history were publi shed by Time Life, Horizon, Newsweek, and Skira Publishing House.

Guler's photos of the works of famed Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan were published in the 1992 book "Sinan: Architect of Suleyman the Magnificent."

In 2002, he was awarded the Legion of Honor Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, and in 2009 he received La Médaille de la Ville de Paris from the Paris Municipality.

He passed away on Oct. 17, 2018 at age 90.