Chase in “Inferno” ends in Istanbul’s Sunken Palace

By Metin DEMİRSAR

Istanbul (Dunya) – ‘Inferno,’ Dan Brown’s latest novel, has become a best-seller in Turkey, partly because the book’s last 88 pages, where the plot unwinds, take place in Istanbul.

The book has been published in May by Doubleday in New York, London, Toronto, Sydney and Auckland.

Inferno’s Turkish edition was translated as ‘Cehenem’ (Hell) by Petek Demir, and printed simultaneously by Altin Kitaplar of Istanbul.

Ms. Demir, a graduate of Bilkent University’s School of Business Administration, has translated all of Mr. Brown’s works into Turkish, including ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels and Demons’ and ‘The Lost Symbol’, all published by Altin Kitaplar.

Like his other breakneck-paced novels, Mr. Brown’s Inferno covers a 24-hour period. In this case, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and World Health Organization (WHO) officials race against the clock to prevent a mad scientist from unleashing the plague virus onto the world. The novel is set in three European cities, Florence, Venice and Istanbul.

The scientist, Bertrand Zobrist, aims to introduce the virus to bring the world’s population under control, with a pre-set plan. Chased by WHO officials, Zobrist jumps to his death off a tower in in Florence.  But his plan remains intact.

Zobrist uses Dante Alighieri’s ‘Divine Comedy’ and a series of codes and symbols left in paintings and art works in Florentine and Venetian churches, museums and palaces to lead the protagonists to find the ruptured plastic bag containing the virus.

The final scenes in Istanbul transpire in the 6th century Haghia Sophia Basilica; the Sunken Palace, a massive Byzantine cistern; and the Galata Bridge and Istanbul harbor.

It turns out that the highly contagious substance Zobrist releases into the air isn’t the plague, but a vector virus spread by inhalation that renders one-third of the world’s human population infertile.

Historic restaurants of Turkey

Dr. Oguz Erkara’s ‘100 Historical Restaurants in Turkey’ offers vignettes of some of the best eateries in the country.

Published in English and Turkish, the 224-page guidebook covers information on the founders and families who run the nation’s top restaurants and provides addresses and phone numbers.

Dr. Erkara, 44, an emergency services physician who has worked in a Burdur medical hospital in western Turkey, also had a highly successful restaurant.

The book, published by Cinius Yayinevi of Istanbul, covers family-owned restaurants that have been operating for at least three generations. Restaurant in 24 cities have been covered.

They include eateries such as Ankara’s Merkez Lokantasi, founded in 1930 in the Ataturk Forest Farm;  Iskender Kebapcisi, a restaurant in Bursa that specializes in doner kebap, and has been in existence since 1867; and the 112-year Pandeli, located presently inside Istanbul’s Spice Market.

Other top restaurants that Mr. Erkara covers are Kebabistan, a kebab restaurant in Ankara Ulus district that was established in 1949 by Sadrettin Ozden, a member of the national wrestling team of Turkey, which is still popular today; Ozcanlar Kofte, a restaurant established in Tekridag, in Thracian Turkey, in 1953, specializing in kofte, or grilled meatballs.

The book also covers Beyti, one of Istanbul’s best meat restaurants, located in Florya, established in 1945 and run by the Guler family, whose members are Crimean Turks who migrated to Turkey at the end of World War Two; and Ismet Baba, a popular fish restaurant along the Bosphorus in Kuzguncuk. It has been in operation since 1951.

World War One officer and hero

‘Yuzbasi Mehmet Muzaffer’ (Captain Mehmet Muzaffer) is well researched biography of a heroic World War One Turkish infantry officer with an artistic flair who was killed in March 1916, while commanding his company during the siege of Kut-al-amara in Iraq.

Metin Soylu, 32, the author, is the chief editor of Truva Publishing of Istanbul, which put out the book. Mr. Soylu has shown his aptitude for research since his days as a high school student and has written several books on Piri Reis (1465-1553), the famed Ottoman cartographer and admiral, as well as volume on disaster planning and relief.

Captain Mehmet Muzaffer was one of the many graduates of Mektebi-i Sultani (today’s Galatasaray High School), who fought and were killed in World War One battles.

He served at Gallipoli in 1916, weeks after the allied forces withdrew from the front.

Captain Mehmet Muzaffer’s fame came from his obtaining tires for camions (army trucks) of his division from a Jewish merchant in Istanbul at a time the Ottoman Army could not even afford to pay for uniforms and boots for its men. He obtained the truck tires by producing counterfeit bills that he drew and had printed.

In a promissory note to the Jewish businessman, he pledged the merchant’s money would be paid back with the blood of Turkish soldiers martyred in war.