The history of relations between Turkey and Ethiopia dates back to the 19th century. During this period, Harar Province was a province connected to the Ottoman Empire through the Khedivate of Egypt between 1875-1885. In 1875, upon a request for support from the region, the troops of Rauf Pasha, one of the Khedivate commanders, came to Harar and took over the administration on October 11, 1875. Then, Khedive Ismail Pasha expanded the borders to Uganda, and a province called Hattaistiva was established there. This region included the widest borders the Ottoman Empire reached in East Africa.
Many of Ottoman merchants settled in Harar Province during this time. Later, in 1912, the first diplomatic mission was opened in Harar at the request of Ottoman citizens who continued to live here from Istanbul. Although other countries had their embassies in the capital Addis Ababa at the time, the reason for opening an embassy in Harar was that the Ottoman population was mostly settled in Harar and Dire Dawa, not in Addis.
In 1912, the Ottoman Empire assigned Necip El-Hac Efendi as consul to Harar Province. Necip El-Hac Efendi, who came to the region as an appointee from the Manila embassy in the Philippines, laid the first foundations of the consulate, but unfortunately passed away in Harar the same year. Therefore, the Ottoman Empire assigned Ahmed Mazhar Bey, who was retired from the translation room directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known as the Foreign Affairs in that period, to Harar in March 1913. Meanwhile, Ahmed Mazhar Bey, who served as consul in the region during World War I between 1913 and 1919, passed away in Djibouti after a 6-year assignment, just like Necip El-Hac Bey. Subsequently, the Ottoman Consulate in Harar was closed, and as of 1925, the consuls of the Republic of Turkey began to work in the capital Addis Ababa.
Necip El-Hac Bey commissioned this building in 1913, and it was built by means of the Turkish cultural house structure. However, the building, which remained idle for many years and was used as a production facility for products such as food and soap, was restored by TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) in 2015. Finally, its restoration was completed in 2019, in accordance with the original design, and transferred to the Turkish Maarif Foundation.
Today, it is used as a cultural center and Turkish language education center under the roof of the Turkish Maarif Foundation; it contains sections such as a museum, library, oriental room, ambassador office, rest room, language teaching classroom, administration room and guest house.
CULTURAL CENTER
Museum
The museum section within our cultural center is open to visitors and displays many historical materials such as hundreds of years old handwritten Qurans, spoons and plates belonging to ancient Ethiopian tribes, and old swords. Among the manuscripts, the Quran, known to be 350 years old, and various books of jurisprudence, theology, and logic stand out. These works in the museum are also available for researchers with special permission.
Ambassador's Room
This room, representing the room of the first Ottoman Consul, Necip El-Hac Bey, has a decoration reflecting Ottoman Turkish culture and shows us the history and decorative structure of the period. Necip El-Hac Bey, who served as consul in Harar for about 4 months, laid the foundations of the building and together with the second consul Ahmed Mazhar Bey who came after him, has an important place in both the history of the region and the history of Ottoman-African relations.
Oriental Room
This room, which presents motifs from Ottoman culture, is a structure representing examples of Turkish cultural houses. This hall, which was used as a waiting area during the consulate period, is now used as a meeting hall and a resting area where many events are held. In addition to the handcrafted decorations on the ceiling, which are made faithfully to the original, the ceiling relief with leaf motifs is a work of art worth seeing. The windows of the room offer a view overlooking the streets of the old city of Harar.
Library
Our library, which contains important works of Turkish literature, includes many works in languages such as Amharic, Arabic and English. Our students, especially those who receive Turkish education, benefit from this library with tea and coffee for 12 hours a day.
Turkish Language
Education Class Our cultural center, which also serves as a Turkish Language Education Center, provides free Turkish courses on certain days of the week. Certificates are presented to graduates of Turkish courses, which attract great interest from the young population in the Harar region, and our graduate students are also supported in receiving higher education in Turkey.
You can write to us for anything you want to know about our school.
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