Photos of Türkiye by Dutchman get millions of views

Photos of Türkiye by Dutchman get millions of views

Nearly 84,000 photos taken by septuagenarian viewed more than 131M times

By Selman Aksunger

AMSTERDAM (AA) - A Dutch psychologist's photos from his travels to Türkiye have received more than 131 million views online.

Dick Osseman, 73, posted close to 84,000 photos from Türkiye on his website.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Osseman said he started exploring Türkiye in the 70s and has since been to the country some 80 times. Fifty of those visits were to Istanbul.

His first visit to Türkiye was when he was 22 years old.

Stating that he began taking photos as a hobby in high school, Osseman said: “At first, I was taking photos for myself and usually showing them to my relatives.”

“As the photos started to increase, I started to catalog and upload them to the internet,” he added.

His photographs of Türkiye have been published in travel and history books, almanacs and many other places.

“It is a great feeling that people want to use my photos and invite me to the university as a speaker,” he said.

Osseman said he always felt welcome in the country and was surprised by the top-notch system of public transportation.

“As a typical Dutch person who does not drive and travels by bicycle, I find the city transportation in Türkiye excellent,” he said.

“You can reach all districts and villages by bus or minibus. There is a minibus that goes to even a village in the east if you wait a few hours. There was no such transport in Italy,” he said.

I prefer exploring lesser known places, he said.

“You can only understand a place if you explore it thoroughly. Contrary to the general opinion, it is important for me to get to know a country in depth with its history and culture, rather than seeing many countries.”

To better understand Türkiye, he said he read about Islam, the Turkish language, and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic.


- Learning Turkish made travels easier

Stating that he studied philology before psychology, Osseman said that thanks to his aptitude for languages, the Turkish he learned made his travels easier.

Osseman also recalled a 2016-thank you letter from a Turkish official, Ozgur Ozaslan, then-general director of promotion at Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry, for his great contribution to the promotion of Türkiye with his photos.

For Osseman, the best cities in Türkiye are Bursa, Edirne, and Istanbul, all of which were the capitals of the Ottoman Empire.

He said he speaks in Turkish with the people he photographed and that he is still in contact with many people he met.

He also recalled a visit to the central Turkish province of Kutahya, famous for its tiles, and a meeting with Mehmet Gursoy, who was awarded the UNESCO Living Human Treasure Prize in 2009. He said that he is still in contact with Gursoy.

Decorating the walls of his house with pictures he took in Türkiye, Osseman said that he continues to use many things he bought from the country.

Osseman’s photos can be seen at https://www.pbase.com/dosseman.

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