Cercle d'Orient "The Big Club"




 Have you ever heard of Turkey's oldest social club, the Cercle d'Orient or simply "The Big Club"?


In 1882, a club called Cercle a`Pera was founded by 30 founding members under the leadership of British Ambassador Sir Alfred Sandison. One fourth of the founding members were Ottoman nationals. The club originally operated in a hotel. As of December 5, 1883, it started operating in the building that Abraham Pasha had built on today's Istiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu. This building was used locally for exactly one hundred years until 1983. In 1884, it changed its name to Cercle d'Orient.


1908, the declaration of the 2nd Constitutional Monarchy and the coming to power of the Committee of Union and Progress caused the club to go through a short period of depression. Due to the decrease in the number of local and foreign members who became members during this period under Abdülhamid's control, the club could not generate income.


As a remedy, the rule of facilitating the management was introduced until the number of members increased to 250. Meanwhile, it is thought that the 1911 Libya and 1912 Balkan wars also reduced the interest. Although these situations reduced the number of members and related parties, there was a noticeable increase in the number of Turkish members. Of the 408 people who became members in 1908-1918, 129, one third, were Ottoman nationals.


Among its members were prince Aziz, Cemal Pasha, Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, Damat Ferit Pasha, Fuad Pasha, prince Sait Halim, Çürüksulu Mahmut, prince Mehmet Ali, veteran Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, Salih Münir, Nişantaşlı Yusuf, Yusuf Sadik pashas.


Due to the economic crisis in the period of 1928, the number of members, which was 260, decreased to 200, which did not escape attention. This decrease in the number of members resulted in insufficient financial resources to keep the club afloat. As a solution, "bridge parties" were tried, but without much success. During this period, proposals for merging with the "Istanbul Club", another club experiencing the same crisis, came, but such a union did not occur.


A way out of the crisis was achieved thanks to the formula of Foreign Minister Numan Menemencioğlu, who was appointed to the presidency although he was not a member. In the new statute, the name of the club was changed to "Big Club". In 1955, former foreign minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras was proclaimed president.


In 1974, President Sahir Kurutluoğlu's attempts to buy the present land and mansion were concluded with the efforts of Raif Dinçkök, who became president in 1976.


Today, Büyük Club serves in its building at Cemil Topuzlu Caddesi No:42 Çiftehavuzlar, Kadıköy / İstanbul, and its members include many senior military and state personnel, politicians and businessmen.







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