A Bouquet of Izmir from the 1930s! #eskiizmir The 1930s were a period when very important breakthroughs and developments were seen in the development of the city of Izmir. Undoubtedly, the fact that the people who governed the city were also people who were running after success played a big role in this breakthrough. It is also common to come across people who cause trouble in public entertainment venues. One of these events took place at the Bayraklı Coastal Casino. While the saz was playing in the casino on the night of the incident, one of the customers asked for the "Zeybek tune to be played". When his request was played, he stood up and started to dance. At this time, Rahmi Efendi, one of the friends of the casino manager Ahmet Efendi, who was at the table, stood up and asked the musicians to "play the National Anthem". At that moment, the musicians who had finished playing the Zeybek, at least in order to fulfill the customer's request, played the Sakarya March instead of the National Anthem. Rahmi Efendi wants everyone to stand up, but when he sees that some of the customers do not stand up, he grabs the chair next to him and throws it at their table, hitting the wife of the man sitting there. As a result of this, the fight that breaks out escalates and most of the women, musicians and customers run away, while the others continue to fight. A waiter is also injured in the hand. Finally, the police arrive and take Rahmi Efendi to the police station.” A similar incident takes place in the casino in the garden of Türkocağı. This incident also stems from a song. The Egyptian Consul Amar Bey, who is on duty in İzmir, sends a message to Nezihe Hanım, who is among the singers, to sing an Arabic song at the casino he went to in order to have a good time. It is understood from the newspaper advertisements that Nezihe Hanım, who is a famous artist throughout the country and has many records on the market, started singing at Türkocağı that very day. It can be assumed that the Egyptian Consul also came to the casino for this reason. Nezihe Hanım, who does not refuse the request, starts to sing the song. However, Hamdi Bey, who is among the customers of the casino, stands up and says, “This is Turkey! The song of the Arabs who did all kinds of harm to us while we were in a state of panic cannot be sung here!” he shouts and warns Nezihe Hanım and silences her. Hamdi Bey, who cannot control himself with his excitement, continues his speech: “Answer me, people! Is what I say true? This is the Türkocağı. Can an Arabic song enter here?” Not content with that, he suggests that those who do not want the song to be sung raise their hands. While some of the people in the casino raise their hands in support of the suggestion, some of the audience do not raise their hands either. Besides, Nezihe Hanım, who is very scared of the incident, has no energy left to sing. In less than five minutes, the Egyptian Consul leaves the casino. While it seems that the situation has calmed down, a person named Şefik in the audience suddenly stands up and shouts: “Nezihe Hanım will sing the Arabic song. It would not be right to ban Eastern music while the Western instrument is being played in the Türkocağı Casino!” As the atmosphere becomes tense again, Hamdi Bey and his friends lower him down from the height he is on and silence him. While the subject immediately finds coverage in newspapers, it is also seen that how Hamdi Bey and his friends “silenced” Şefik Bey was not explained. Voiced by: Kadir Tanrıkulu Content preparation and editing:: AkifTanrıkulu