Ottoman daily found inside wall of Dolmabahce Palace

By Saadet Firdevs Apari

ISTANBUL (AA) - During a restoration work at the Dolmabahce Palace in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul on Wednesday, newspaper fragments from 1917 were found inside the wall plaster.

The newspapers were used as filling materials during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V Resad in 1909-1918.

The legible parts of the newspaper pages tell about the empire's first two planes, "Ottoman" and "Prince Celaleddin", and that the latter travelled from Beirut to Damascus safely.

While the printing date of the Ottoman newspaper is estimated to coincide with the early 1910s, a French daily fragment reads the date 1917.

During the restoration works in one of the halls of the palace, a sketch of a male portrait was also found behind the layers of paint on the wall.

The portrait, which appears to have been drawn with oil paints, is thought to be a souvenir left by the palace engravers.

* Writing by Dilara Hamit from Ankara.