The Merkezefendi Cemetery ( tr, Merkezefendi Mezarlığı) is a

burial ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are burial, buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek language, Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifical ...

situated in Merkezefendi neighborhood of

Zeytinburnu Zeytinburnu (literally, ''Olive Cape'') is a working-class neighbourhood, municipality (belediye) and district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the shore of the Marmara Sea just outside the walls of the ancient city, beyond the fortres ...

district on the European part of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The neighborhood and the cemetery are named after Merkez Efendi, an Ottoman

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and Sufi (1463–1552). Many renowned intellectuals, writers and artists rest in this old cemetery covering an area of . The cemetery was established in the 16th century with the construction of the tomb of Merkez Efendi at this location. It was extended in the 1950s, and another cemetery, the Kozlu Cemetery was established away. The cemetery was fully renovated in 2007. At the time of the burial of former Prime Minister

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later bann ...

in 2011, a comprehensive maintenance work was carried out at the cemetery. Currently, burials are allowed only for the members of families with existing graves.

Notable burials

Listed in order of death year: *

Abdullah Cevdet Abdullah Cevdet ( ota, عبدالله جودت‎; tr, Abdullah Cevdet Karlıdağ; 9 September 1869 – 29 November 1932) was a Kurdish intellectual and physician in the Ottoman Empire. He was one of the founders of the Committee of Union an ...

(1869–1932) writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

, translator, radical free-thinker and an ideologist of the Young Turks *

Rıza Nur Rıza Nur (30 August 1879 in Sinop – 8 September 1942 in Istanbul) was a Turkish surgeon, politician and writer. He was prominent in the years immediately after the First World War, where he served as a cabinet minister but was subsequently ma ...

(1879–1942) politician, writer *

Adnan Adıvar Adnan Adıvar (1882 – 1 July 1955), also known as Adnan Bey, was a Turkish politician, writer, historian, and by profession a medical doctor. He undertook original research and wrote on the history of science. He was also an early supporter o ...

(1882–1955) physician, politician, writer *

Sadettin Kaynak Sadettin Kaynak (1895 – 3 February 1961) was a prominent composer of Turkish classical music. Biography Born in Istanbul, he became a hafiz at a young age. He lost his father early in his youth. He completed his music education at the Ista ...

(1895–1961) composer, musician *

Halide Edip Adıvar In chemistry, a halide (rarely halogenide) is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a flu ...

(1884–1964) novelist, feminist politician *

Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver (1885 – 10 June 1966) was a highly influential Turkish poet, intellectual, diplomat and politician. He adopted his surname Tanrıöver after the Turkish Surname Law was enacted in 1934. Life He was born to Abdülla ...

(1885–1966), poet and politician *

Sabahattin Eyüboğlu Sabahattin Eyüboğlu (1908 – January 13, 1973) was a Turkish writer, essayist, translator and film producer. Biography Sabahatttin Eyüboğlu was born in 1908 on the Black Sea coast town of Akçaabat near Trabzon. His father Mehmet Rahmi ...

(1908–1973) translator, essayist, film producer *

Samiha Ayverdi Samiha Ayverdi (25 November 1905 – 22 March 1993) was a Turkish writer and Sufi mystic. Biography Samiha Ayverdi was born in İstanbul to Fatma Meliha Hanim and İsmail Hakkı Bey, an Ottoman military official. She studied at Süleymaniye ...

(1905–1993) novelist, Sufi * Halil Hâlid (1869–1931) Turkish writer * Mualla Eyüboğlu (1919–2009)

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, restorer *

(1926–2011) engineer, politician, former prime minister *

Toktamış Ateş Toktamış Ateş (4 April 1944 – 19 January 2013) was a Turkish academician, political commentator, columnist and writer. He was professor of political sciences at Istanbul University. Biography Toktamış Ateş was born in Istanbul. After gra ...

(1944–2013) academician, writer *

Neşe Aybey Neşe Aybey (1930–2015), also written Neş'e Aybey, was a Turkish Painter, Miniaturist and Academic in the field of miniature art, one of the ''Traditional Turkish Arts'' and part of the Ottoman Book Arts. She was the older sister of sculptor ...

(1930-2015)

Miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

, Academic

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merkezefendi Cemetery Cemeteries in Istanbul Sunni cemeteries Zeytinburnu